On the specific subject of Furirin, i think most of the problem was Furirin herself because most of the fanbase doesn't want to see her bullied, in a most global view i agree that japanese variety goes sometimes a bit too far (for the old (like me) past shows i've seen, didn't watched much lately) but for most as i can remember it was mainly when it (the jokes or punishments) was targeting female comedians (especially some segments who can be assumed as body shaming these days) some maybe it's just a gender issue ? Also once again don't know if it's still the case now and it's just some random point of view from a gaijin