Ever since Naomi Osaka clinched the U.S. Open title last year, she has made good use of the fame that she acquired. She has become an endorser and partner of many huge brands, including a lucrative sponsorship deal with Nike. Because of this, she clocked as much as $16 million in endorsement earnings from the second half of 2018 to June 2019. She has also become a huge spokesperson for causes she believed in. It is no surprise that she would be very outspoken about these advocacies too.
Naomi Osaka deflects racist comments with brilliant reply
After a Japanese comedy duo joked about her skin complexion, Osaka used it as an opportunity to promote one of her endorsements. Through a tweet dated September 29, she quoted comments about her being “too sunburned.” She highlighted that the UV sunscreen from her partner company Shiseido helps her not get sunburns as the duo offensively claimed.
“Too sunburned” lol that’s wild. Little did they know, with Shiseido anessa perfect uv sunscreen I never get sunburned”
Osaka, who is of Japanese and Haitian descent, drew applause from her fans, who supported her from the racist attacks. A lot of her fans comforted and praised her by commenting on her post. The tennis player has become a household name in Japan so naturally the comedy duo faced a lot of backlashes.
Comedy duo A Masso already issued a public apology regarding their comments about the Japanese star through their management firm Watanabe Entertainment. They admitted that they have been “hurtful” and “ignorant” with the things that they said about Osaka’s complexion.
It can be recalled that the relatively unknown duo called Osaka “too sunburned” during a live weekend performance. In the same skit, they also said that the 21-year old should be bleached, which caused a further uproar among her fans.
Osaka’s other battles with racism
This is not the first time Osaka has been embroiled in a racist controversy. Earlier this year, Nissin Foods, her sponsor, had to pull out an ad after getting accused of whitewashing Osaka in an anime-style clip. The 21-year old star said that the company apologized to her directly.
While she is insanely famous in Japan, Osaka’s identity as a biracial woman has been a point of contention among many Japanese. The country has been known for being racially homogenous. Mixed-race people and other racial minorities still face a lot of discrimination there.
Osaka has also been slammed for her imperfect knowledge of the Japanese language. While she was born in Japan, she lived in the United States for a majority of her life. She chose to represent Japan because her father recommended it when she was starting.
Osaka in Beijing, ranking, and results in 2019
Ranked no.4, the Japanese has a 34-11 win-loss record in 2019. Osaka is now having a run in Beijing where she beat Jessica Pegula 6-3 7-65.
Naomi will come up against Petkovic in the 2nd round. The head to head is 1-0 for Petkovic.
The last time that they competed against each other, Petkovic won 6-2 6-2 in the 2nd round in Stanford in July 2014.
The Japanese has won 2 titles in 2019 at the Australian Open and in Osaka.
Osaka won 4 titles in her career: 4 on hard courts. (See the list of her titles)
Naomi Osaka |
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