Teenage idol sued by management for having relationship, ordered to pay damages

Remember when we reported on two former idols in Aoyama Saint Hachamecha High School (Mechahai) in 2014, who were being sued by their managers for dating fans?

Well, now the sorry state of Japan’s idol industry gets worse.

When a 17-year-old girl who was a member of an unnamed idol group (allegedly Dokidoki) was found to have “breached” her group’s rules against dating, it meant the management apparently was forced to disband the entire idol group.

The management then sued the teenager and her family for around ¥5.1 million (over $40,000) in damages.

The courts ruled on the suit on September 18th.

The judge found that the girl’s actions had indeed “brought damage on the group’s image when her relationship was discovered.” He ordered her to pay ¥650,000 ($5,000) to her former bosses.

The girl made the contract with the management company in March 2013, which included clauses banning “relationships with the opposite sex” (so lesbianism is fine?) and “playing as a couple with boys and take pictures together”.

The six-girl group debuted in July 2013, but her relationship with a boy was discovered in October. The idol group disbanded that same month.

The ex-idol had tried to argue that not having a relationship (“interacting”) with the opposite sex was not an essential part of being an idol, but the judge found that the management company had been unable to recover its initial investment due to the premature disbanding of the group, and that above and beyond the girl being an idol, the ban on relationships was necessary for obtaining the support of male fans.

In other words, if female idols have a relationship, they’re screwed in more ways than one: they get fucked by the fan or the boyfriend, they’re probably already getting fucked by the management financially (and, if rumors are to be believed, physically too), and then they get fucked in the courts to boot.