“Ano-chan was glancing through the script.” “She named another ‘female celebrity she dislikes.'” Shocking revelations from an insider

“Ano-chan must have read through the script.”

“Counting from when it was a late-night show, it’s been nearly seven years… If, as Ano-san says, it had been a situation where ‘unwanted circumstances persisted’ and ‘even if I resisted, things just kept moving forward,’ I don’t think it would have lasted this long. I’m filled with a sense of helplessness at her explanation, which practically implies that she was ‘forced to do it by the show’s staff.’”

The host of her own show declared on social media, “I don’t want to continue anymore, so I’m stepping down from the show.” It’s still fresh in our memories that *Ano Channel* (TV Asahi) was canceled in an unprecedented manner.

Ano (age undisclosed) explained the circumstances behind her decision to step down on social media on May 23 (second photo).On the same day, TV Asahi also issued an apology on its official website, stating, “The production team bears full responsibility for this incident,” and announced the end of *Ano Channel* and the suspension of its streaming. Although the show aired its final episode on June 15—Mr. A, a TV Asahi official involved in the program’s production, lamented as quoted at the beginning.

As is widely known, the trigger for her departure was a segment aired on May 18 in which she was asked to “take a soccer shot while naming a celebrity she dislikes.”According to Ano, the details of the segment were kept from her until the very last minute, and the production team also refused her request to bleep out the names of the “celebrities she dislikes.” While her growing distrust was cited as the reason for her departure, Mr. A tilted his head in confusion, saying, “Ano must have read through the script.”

“We send the script to Ano-san’s agency before recording so they can review it. We also received approval for the questions. It’s unthinkable that an MC wouldn’t read the script, and if the content wasn’t communicated to her, that’s a problem with her agency, not us.”

In the “List of Topics” section of the *Ano Channel* script that Mr. A showed to *FRIDAY*, lines such as “Who is the celebrity you dislike second most after Becky?” and “Which comedian or celebrity have you found unforgivable?” were written. Mr. A continued:

“For ‘Ano Channel,’ the editing process proceeded with the agency formally designating which parts were off-limits after the recording.Ano-san did indeed ask for beeps to be inserted on set, and those remarks were actually aired, but after the recording, there were no official objections from the agency. That’s why we thought her request to ‘insert beeps’ might have been just a ‘prompt.’”

There Was “One More” Celebrity He Disliked

There are reportedly other reasons why Mr. A came to that conclusion. This is because, during the recording, he also mentioned actress “X” as one of the celebrities he dislikes. “As for X, her agency had already given a ‘no’ according to standard procedure,” Mr. A says.

“X, who is currently in her 30s, is what you’d call an extrovert. She speaks her mind directly and is definitely the type who divides opinion.However, while there was a specific reason I came to dislike Sarina Suzuki (48)—namely, that she snatched ‘Ano-san’s’ cue cards and read them aloud when we co-starred on the *Snow Man* show—my feelings toward X were more along the lines of ‘I just don’t like her for some reason.’ That’s why she was ruled out.

Ano-san and the show’s producer discussed how to handle the broadcast, and they decided to edit both takes so that X would shout Ms. Suzuki’s name. Using a technique called ‘separate recording,’ they recorded the audio for ‘Sarina Suzuki’ separately and layered it over X’s name.“Since they went to the trouble of recording it separately, I assumed it was okay to use Ms. Suzuki’s real name without cutting it out. I figured Aono was thinking, ‘Please use it.’”

In fact, when reviewing the footage of the second take, although Suzuki’s name was heard in the audio, Ano’s lip movements appeared to be shouting the name of X, a different person.

Is Mr. A’s testimony true? Ano’s agency, Toys Factory Co., Ltd., responded to an inquiry from FRIDAY by stating, “We are unable to comment on planning, direction, or other matters related to the production of the program.” TV Asahi simply stated:merely stated, “We do not typically comment on the program’s production process. (Omitted) We would like to once again express our deepest apologies for causing significant inconvenience to Mr. Suzuki, Ano, and all other parties involved.”

On June 30, TV Asahi President Nishiarata pointed out a lack of communication among staff members during a regular press conference and apologized once again. The ripples caused by a minor misunderstanding have spread far more widely than anyone could have imagined.

From the July 17 & 24, 2026, combined issue of *FRIDAY*