Morning Musume's Rio Kitagawa Apologizes for SNS Posts: "They Were All Written by Me, No Doubt About It" "I Deeply Regret It"

Kitagawa Rio of Morning Musume '25 had her private SNS account leaked, in which she badmouthed several group members and her job in general. In particular, she complained about leader Ikuta Erina for not greeting her or others and being rude, the way another member wore her hair, the socks that the company forced them to wear, another member doing an interview before her, feeling left out from the trio composed of her genmates, etc. Kitagawa had previously another "scandal" when photos of her with a guy were leaked. 

Kitagawa said, "I sincerely apologize for hurting the members and all the fans due to my immature actions. Everything that has come out was indeed written by me—there is no mistake about that." She explained, "About two years ago, I was exchanging messages with a friend via social media, sharing things that happened in my daily life and at work." She added, "What I did is absolutely inexcusable. I deeply regret my actions. I am truly sorry for what happened."

[+20, -165]

Source: Girls Channel

Comments: 

1.  [+477, -10] Isn't she gonna quit? 

2. [+475, -3] That's so fucked up

3. [+608, -16] I don't know this idol, is she famous in Morning Musume?

 >> I only know Maria from Love It

 >> Among the current members, she was pushed quite a lot from the company and given many singing parts, but photos of her with a man were leaked at the beginning of the year so otakus kinda left her. And now this is the final blow. 

4. [+184, -14] Who?

5. [+369, -8] Is current Morning Musume even popular? 

6. [+229, -4] She should be able to wear whatever socks she likes lol 

7. [+130, -51] But honestly, I'd complain too if my greeting were ignored 

  >> But isn't it wrong to complain about it on social media? Secret accounts have been leaked so many times in the past

  >> That's true, but why do young people these days feel the need to write it down and leave traces behind? If she wanted to tell her friends, couldn't she have just called them?

  >> I understand the urge to complain when someone doesn't answer your greeting, but the way she wrote "Are you the Emperor?" about Ikuta seems a bit shitty. She just gives off bad vibes

8. [+32, 20] If you want a boyfriend or to get married, don't become an idol

9. [+166, -41] In a trio of girls there's bound to be tension, an even number would be much better. I guess the higher ups don't understand that cause they're all men. 

10. [+24, -29] It's good that she didn't pretend that she was hacked and properly admitted it and apologized. 

11. [+350, -5] So she’s not quitting Momusu? Kinda wild that her private account got leaked by someone close to her—she must not be very well-liked. But hey, she’s got a job lined up as a TV Tokyo announcer, right? Congrats, that’s amazing! She even apologized and everything. Guess you can hurt people and still become an announcer—Morning Musume really is something else.

12. [+129, -3] Is she the one who was complaining about groupmates not saying hi, or whining about getting hurt by a mic during a performance, or even trash-talking someone’s hairstyle?

13. [+85, -2] I've only seen this girl's name in official apologies, lol 

14. [+286, -7] I think firing her is the best decision, for her own protection as well

15. [+581, -7] She made fun of her peers, seniors, the Emperor, and people with disabilities, and even secretly took photos of her group members and posted them on social media.

16. [+111, -2] I can understand venting to a friend in person, but sending stuff like that back and forth on social media? It leaves a trace, and with the kind of things she said, it feels less like immaturity and more like a personality issue.

17. [+419, -1] Honestly, what’s amazing is that she can keep working with the other members after writing stuff like that about them.

18. [+153, -2] If she hates her members that much, why doesn't she just quit already? It must be a total nightmare to be there, lol.

19. [+108, -36] Ikuta ignored Kitagawa’s greetings, talked behind her back, and treated Homare and Mei completely differently, right? If that’s true, then of course Kitagawa would hold a grudge against her.

20. [+183 -2] They pretend to be so close, but in reality it's a mess, lol 

21. [+162, -0] She got caught with a boyfriend, made excuses, apologized—fine, whatever. But with this situation, she's handling it all wrong. Why isn't she suspended or fired? Taking secret photos is a crime, and leaking info is a huge problem too, right? Is this girl really that special?