TV personality Becky’s fall from grace following alleged affair has ignited debate over Japan’s unfair standards for women in the entertainment industry

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

From nightly appearances on TV to persona non grata of Japanese show business in a matter of weeks, the drama of Rebecca Eri Ray Vaughan’s fall from grace was matched only by how much it revealed about Japan’s harsh treatment of its female entertainers.

Until news of her alleged affair with a married man surfaced earlier this month, Becky – as she is known – was one of the most popular people on Japanese television, with regular appearances in 10 commercials and on at least half a dozen variety shows.

Viewers liked her unthreatening, breezy manner and carefully crafted image as the girl next door. As the daughter of a Japanese woman and British man – her haafu (half) status brought a touch of exotica to their evening viewing.

Yet all it took was a leaked text message – seized upon by the tabloid media – to bring to a halt a 15-year career whose upward trajectory seemed guaranteed.

Her predicament has also ignited a debate over the vice-like grip Japan’s powerful talent agencies have on female singers, actors and TV celebrities.

While the 31-year-old ponders the sudden withdrawal of TV appearances, commercial endorsements and her own radio programme, she may be asking herself why she has been singled out for media vitriol while her alleged lover, a pop singer, carries on, his career apparently unaffected.

Her crime, it appears, was to break the steadfast rule that requires young female celebrities in Japan not only to entertain, but to remain morally unimpeachable.

Within weeks of a magazine breaking news of her alleged affair with Enon Kawatani, a 27-year-old singer in the band Gesu no Kiwami Otome, her employers ripped up contracts, reportedly at the behest of her own management agency, Sun Music.

By last week, she had disappeared from TV screens, and lost commercial contracts and her own radio show.

While Sun Music claimed she was suffering from “illness and depression”, Becky is unlikely to return once she recovers.

Philip Brasor, a commentator on Japanese media and culture, says like many of the celebrities who populate Japanese variety shows, “her whole reason for being as a TV talent is her image as a cheerful, agreeable, proper young woman, and once that image is spoiled she has no value to the people who use her”.

Becky’s alleged lover, the pop singer Enon Kawatani, left, has seen his career largely unaffected by claims of an adulterous relationship. Photograph: Gesu no Kiwani Otome

When management agencies spend time and money nurturing a would-be celebrity, they are creating a brand image that leaves no room for impropriety.

“Most of these people have no conventional entertainment skills,” Brasor added. “Their worth to their agencies is all tied into how much the public likes them as people, which means their private lives are the property of the agencies, too.”

Becky, he points out, has been accused of adultery, making it unlikely that she will garner much public sympathy: when a TV network recently used footage of the celebrity that was filmed before the scandal broke, it received more than 1,000 complaints in just 10 minutes.

Yet other female entertainers have seen their careers damaged for non-adulterous relationships.

Last September, a 17-year-old member of an all-female “idol” band was ordered to pay 650,000 yen (£3,800) to her agency after it was revealed she had a boyfriend – a violation of the no-dating clause in her contract. To add to her troubles, her relationship caused the breakup of her six-member band.

The case revealed the lengths to which Japan’s talent agencies will go to indulge the fantasies – and secure the commercial loyalty – of girl bands’ largely male fan base.

“As long as she was a female idol,” the judge, Akitomo Kojima said, “a ban on dating was necessary to obtain support from male fans”.

Women who have fallen foul of restrictive agency contracts last month found an unlikely ally, in a case that could set an uncomfortable precedent for overbearing agents.

In a surprise decision, Katsuya Hara, a Tokyo district court judge, ruled in favour of a member of a girl band who was dating one of her fans. Her talent agency had taken her to court seeking almost 10m yen in damages for breaking a no-dating clause in her contract.

Describing the ban as “excessive,” Hara said the 23-year-old woman, who has not been named, enjoyed the constitutional right to the pursuit of happiness – and that included having a boyfriend.

A woman’s value as a commodity is at risk of evaporating as soon as she appears “unobtainable” to her male fans, according to Mark Schreiber, who has written extensively about Japan’s entertainment industry.

“The talent agencies get kids when they’re pretty young, so they don’t want them to get caught up in anything controversial or illegal,” said Schreiber. “But the no-dating clause should expire when they reach 20 [and are legally considered adults].”

Minami Minegishi, a former member of Japan’s most popular girl group, AKB48, was that age when a magazine published photographs of her leaving her boyfriend’s home in 2013.

Hours after the magazine came out, Minegishi, who had shaved her head – a traditional act of contrition in Japan – took to YouTube to issue a tearful apology.

“As a senior member of the group, it is my responsibility to be a role model for younger members,” she said, before ending the four-minute mea culpa with a deep, lingering bow. “Everything I did is entirely my fault. I am so sorry.”

But Schreiber doubts that the recent court ruling in favour of the girl band singer will weaken the determination of talent agencies to keep young female artists morally schackled.

“These people are brands owned by entertainment cartels,” he said, “and they don’t want anything to threaten that brand.”