Japanese pop icon Utada Hikaru found herself drawing flak over a lighthearted social media post about eating noodles. The 43-year-old singer shared a post on X about visiting a soba restaurant alone for the first time.
She Got a Table for One While Others Were Turned Away
She wrote that before heading out, she hesitated over whether to make a reservation: “I’m going alone and it’s still early, so it should be fine without a reservation… but maybe I should call just in case.” After deciding to reserve a table, she described sitting down and enjoying her soba while watching groups of customers who hadn’t made reservations get turned away because the restaurant was already full. She noted how delicious the soba tasted as she watched others being told, “We’re already fully booked from early on today,” ending the post with, “Everyone, good job today 🍵.”
The tone was clearly playful, poking fun at that small satisfaction of having planned ahead. However, it didn’t land well with everyone. About a day later, Utada addressed the minor backlash herself. She heard the post was “causing a stir” and thought, “Huh? Why? Are people saying, ‘Oh please, Utada trying to act like a regular person, she’s rich enough to just buy the soba shop anyway,’ or something?”
Instead, she found that some people were criticizing her for having a “bad personality” and that she’s “two-faced.” Reacting with laughing emojis, she expressed surprise that her humor was taken so seriously, suggesting that maybe when people only read text on social media, the nuance doesn’t always come through.
Photo: kuma_power
Raya
nowadays people are so judgemental especially with social media. Just ignore them!
Kai
Can’t ignore them if it was turning out to be trial by social media.
Dee
This is literally crazy are people so free that they get mad about anything ….