TOKYO (TR) – Former TBS network announcer Rina Yamamoto is facing a wave of online backlash after stripping down for a revealing photobook, a move critics are calling a desperate bid to salvage a floundering freelance career just weeks after her divorce.
The 32-year-old unveiled the cover of her upcoming first photobook on Instagram on Thursday, ahead of its October 28 release. However, it was a teaser video posted last month that set the internet ablaze.
The footage showed the former news anchor strutting across a beach in Miyakojima wearing a high-cut, pink and purple bikini that heavily exposed her backside — a stark departure from her formerly conservative network image, reports Jishin Josei (Oct. 10).
“Market is saturated”
The bold stunt, coming so soon after her divorce, has left netizens cringing.
“Did the divorce break something in her, or is this who she really was all along?” one commenter speculated. Another wrote, “She has completely lost her way. The market is saturated with freelance announcers, so if she doesn’t pull stunts like this, she won’t get any work.”
Others pointed out a well-worn industry trope: “It’s a cliché that when female announcers go freelance and fail to find work, they resort to taking their clothes off.”
“Red Benz Prince”
Yamamoto, an Aoyama Gakuin University graduate, joined TBS in 2017. She rose to prominence as the assistant host on the popular weekend broadcast “Sunday Japon.” During her tenure, a tabloid caught her riding in a red Mercedes convertible with a man working for a foreign financial firm. Yamamoto leaned into the scandal, jokingly dubbing him the “Red Benz Prince” on live television to get a laugh.
She announced her marriage to the “Prince” on the same program in March 2022, and flaunted a flashy, bubble-era-style champagne tower at their extravagant January 2023 wedding reception.
Yamamoto left the network in October 2023 to pursue a freelance career, but the fairy tale was short-lived. This past August, she announced the end of her marriage. Less than a month later, she began promoting the bikini-clad photobook.
“Desperate to ramp-up her workload”
According to an entertainment reporter, Yamamoto’s post-network career has been less than stellar.
“Her freelance work has not gone smoothly. Her only regular gigs are on a specialty sports channel and a radio program. Compared to her glamorous days at TBS, it’s a bit sad,” the reporter noted. “Now that she’s divorced, she’s likely desperate to ramp up her workload.”
Industry insiders are now watching to see if baring it all will serve as the explosive catalyst the former broadcast star needs to claw her way back onto terrestrial television.
