Narimiya Hiroki strongly denies FRIDAY's report accusing him of consuming cocaine

Narimiya Hiroki hit out strongly against FRIDAY for its report in the magazine's 2 December issue which accused him of consuming cocaine and said that the report was entirely fabricated. His agency Top Coat also said that they will take legal action against the editorial department and publisher of FRIDAY i.e. Kodansha.

According to the statement from Top Coat sent to the media on 1 December, they were notified of FRIDAY's intention to publish the report a day before. However, despite their strong objections and denial that the report was totally untrue, FRIDAY still went ahead with publishing the story. As such, instead of the usual procedure of asking for an apology or correction of the report, Top Coat decided to take the extreme step of legal action, be it civil or criminal against FRIDAY and its publisher for damaging Narimiya's image and reputation. The agency also apologised to fans and work partners for the worry and inconvenience caused by this episode.

Narimiya himself also released a statement on 2 December which was signed by him where he revealed that he was very furious to hear about this baseless accusation. He also swore that he has never consumed any illegal drugs and apologised for the worry and trouble caused to fans and work partners by this report.

Sources: Sanspo / Yomiuri Hochi / Sponichi 1 / Sponichi 2 / Sponichi 3