Sports loyalties Naomi Osaka and LeBron James on Tuesday announced that they have partnered and launched a new media firm, but the name of the firm has left Kenyans on Twitter (KoT) in stitches.
Osaka, 24, has started a media company called Hana Kuma in partnership with SpringHill, a fast-growing entertainment, marketing and products company co-founded by James.
Osaka said in a brief Zoom interview that her ambitions for Hana Kuma, which stands for “flower bear” in Japanese, include scripted and unscripted television series, documentaries, anime and branded content, which is entertainment programming that has embedded or integrated advertising.
Hana Kuma is also working on unspecified documentary content for Epix, a premium cable channel now owned by Amazon.
Four-time Grand Slam champion Osaka was last year ranked as the world’s highest-paid female athlete, having earned Sh6.7 billion ($57 million) in 2021, mostly from sponsorships.
Osaka has 12 sponsors, including Nike, Mastercard, Louis Vuitton and Panasonic. Her longtime agent and business partner, Stuart Duguid, who is a co-founder of Hana Kuma, said some could be involved with Hana Kuma content.
The name of the company is the one that has raised eyebrows in Kenya and other Swahili-speaking countries.
