Fuji TV to end reality show "Terrace House" after cast member death

May 28, 2020 | News On Japan

May 28, 2020 (Kyodo) - Fuji Television will terminate the latest series in its popular reality show "Terrace House," the Japanese broadcaster said Wednesday, four days after one of its cast members was found dead in a suspected suicide believed to have links with cyber-bullying fueled by her behavior in an episode.

Hana Kimura, a 22-year-old female professional wrestler, was among the six members of "Terrace House Tokyo 2019-2020." She had posted a picture of herself on Instagram with the words "I'm sorry," shortly before her death was confirmed at a hospital on Saturday.

The broadcaster also stopped distributing the series on its internet video distribution service FOD.

"We take what happened very seriously, and will address this in a sincere manner," the company said in a release Wednesday, expressing its condolences and sympathies to Kimura's family.

The woman, who joined the show last September, became a target of hateful messages on social media, especially after an episode distributed in late March where she got angry at a male cast member who accidentally shrank one of her wrestling costumes while doing laundry.

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