"They Said They'd Forgive Me If I Shaved My Head" — Idol Who Met Fans and Had Her Contract Terminated in Tears

[Sportschosun, Jang Jong-ho] "They said they would forgive me if I shaved my head." "I never gave such an order."

Hanada Mei, 21, a former member of the popular Japanese idol group AKB48, has sparked controversy after claiming that her agency pressured her to shave her head and then terminated her contract. The company has strongly denied the allegation.

According to Japanese media outlets, including Oricon News, DH, the agency behind AKB48, announced on its official website on the 23rd that it had terminated its exclusive contract with Hanada, who had been suspended from activities. Hanada then released a roughly nine-minute video on her social media account that day. In the video, she appeared with short-cropped hair and a mask, and apologized while admitting that she had met a specific fan privately during her AKB48 days.

Hanada said she had met the fan privately while she was active and had even held hands with him on the street. She bowed her head and said, "It was behavior that showed a lack of awareness as an idol," adding, "It was a mistake serious enough that I would not have found it strange if my contract had been terminated immediately."

She later claimed that a company representative cited the case of former AKB48 member Minami Minegishi and demanded that she shave her head.

Minegishi shocked fans in 2013 when she shaved her head and posted a public apology video after it was revealed that she had violated the group's no-dating rule.

Hanada explained that after her relationship with the fan was exposed, management told her that "if you want to stay in AKB48, you need to show sincerity," and that she felt, based on the circumstances, that she could not continue her activities unless she cut her hair.

DH, however, flatly denied her claims in a statement released the same day.

The company said Hanada had repeatedly been late since around December 2025 because of health issues, and that while her activities were suspended so she could recover, it confirmed she had continued to contact a specific fan.

According to DH, Hanada said she had only met the fan by chance twice, but an investigation of the people involved found that there had been multiple meetings.

The agency stressed that private relationships with a specific fan are prohibited because they undermine member safety, fairness among fans, and trust in the group.

It also claimed that although Hanada had expressed a desire to return to activities, she did not respond to discussions about her comeback and instead demanded punishment for members who had spoken ill of her, as well as the lifting of sanctions on the fan in question.

DH said that, taking all of these circumstances into account, terminating the contract was unavoidable.

In particular, it said, "There was absolutely no order to shave her head," and added that after checking with the staff member involved, it received the response that "such an order was never given."

Hanada quickly hit back on social media, saying, "I cannot forgive them for making me cut my hair and then claiming they do not remember saying that now." She added, "I feel betrayed," and said, "If necessary, I will fight, even if it takes years."

She also explained her hair condition, saying, "Some people say it was not a shaved head but very short hair. Right now it has simply grown a little with time, but it was much shorter at first."

Jang Jong-ho, bellho@sportschosun.com