On the 25th of this month SMILE-UP. announced that they sent a letter of protest to the BBC against the editing of Higashiyama Noriyuki’s statements during the followup program “Our World: The Shadow of The Predator” claiming they have intentionally distorted the broadcast.
The company stated, “On March 30 of this year, the BBC’s “Our World: The Shadow of The Predator” was broadcast. However, the part of the interview footage of our president, Noriyuki Higashiyama, in which he slanders the victims was broadcast in a manner that differs from the actual purpose of Higashiyama’s remarks, and after the broadcast of this program, many false criticisms have been made against Higashiyama, including that he is “promoting slander and libel”.”
The duo in charge of the production, Mobeen Azhar and Megumi Inman also held a press conference at The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan (FCCJ) after the broadcast of the program.
As a response to the alleged issues brought by the broadcast, the company sent a written protest to the BBC, sternly protesting and requesting a correction and apology.
Details of SMILE-UP.’s protest:
1. Editing of the footage in Higashiyama’s interview.
In this program, footage of an interview with our president, Noriyuki Higashiyama, by Mobeen Azhar was broadcast. The BBC also released a feature-length version of said interview footage after the broadcast of this program.
During the interview, Higashiyama stated in response to a question from Mobeen, “I think there is freedom of speech. I am not advocating slander, and sometimes I think it is probably a righteous opinion for that person. Therefore, I think it is very difficult to draw a line between what is slander and what is not. I myself would like to eliminate slander as much as possible.”
Despite the fact that Higashiyama clearly stated that he wished to eliminate slander, the BBC omitted the part of Higashiyama’s statement, “I myself would like to eliminate slander as much as possible,” from the program and the subsequent feature-length interview video, and the entire broadcast as a whole, the overall content of the broadcast differs from the purpose of Higashiyama’s statement. We have confirmed the editing of Higashiyama’s interview by the BBC by comparing and verifying the feature-length video of the program after its broadcast and the audio recorded during the interview with Higashiyama.
In addition, prior to the broadcast of this program, we sent a letter to Mobeen Azhar and Megumi Inman dated March 4, in which we stated, “Higashiyama made the statement that “there is freedom of speech,” but this is because, in general, people who make slanderous remarks on social networking sites do not want to be challenged by such slanderous remarks. He was referring to the fact that in general, it is quite difficult to promote countermeasures against slander and libel with the understanding of such people, since they tend to use such counterarguments as a shield against such slander. This is clear from the back-and-forth exchange, but we would like to add this just to make sure that no part of the statement is cut out and broadcast.”
Nevertheless, the BBC broadcast the program without Higashiyama’s comments and continued to omit the relevant parts in the feature length version that was subsequently released, resulting in a number of false criticisms against Higashiyama after the program was broadcast, such as that he was promoting slander and libel.
The BBC intentionally distorted Higashiyama’s statements in order to manipulate viewers’ impressions of the program, which is extremely regrettable.
2. Regarding Mobeen Azhar’s statement about the interview with the victim in question
At a meeting with Mobeen Azhar and Megumi Inman on January 29 in preparation for the broadcast of the program, we proposed that they interview a victim who has volunteered to cooperate with our compensation operations. In order to provide as broad a coverage of the actual sexual assault by Johnny Kitagawa as possible, both victims agreed that they would be very interested in meeting with us. We agreed and arranged a meeting.
The victim told us that he agreed to the meeting not for the purpose of maintaining the reputation of our company, but because he sincerely hoped that the BBC would recognize the true nature and reality of the case and broadcast the program from a multifaceted and neutral perspective.
However, Mobeen Azhar disclosed the fact and content of his interview with the victim in the program, and also disclosed the fact and content of his interview with the victim again in the press conference.
Mobeen Azhar’s words and actions are not only a breach of our agreement with the victim, but also a breach of his promise to the victim, and may cause widespread slander and libel against the victim. In fact, the victim has been exposed to slander and defamation, and it must be said that the victim’s human rights have been violated, which is highly regrettable for us.
In response to the circumstances described in point 1. and 2. above, we have written to the BBC, demanding that they take appropriate action, including a correction and apology in response to our severe protest.
April 25, 2024
SMILE-UP Inc.
