<figure id="attachment_351444" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-351444" style="width: 703px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="f2cd037a"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/12/f86f6b18a23241ad7617a706e48a0b22.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-351444" class="wp-caption-text">Hitoshi Matsumoto, who himself left a meaningful comment in response to the allegations of infidelity, &#8230;&#8230;</figcaption></figure>
 At the end of the year, the comedy world was in an uproar.
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 Downtown&#8217;s Hitoshi Matsumoto, who reigns at the &#8220;top&#8221; of Yoshimoto Kogyo, was the subject of a sexual scandal.
 According to an article in the Shukan Bunshun (weekly magazine), in 2003, Matsumoto, together with Kazutaka Ozawa of the comedy duo &#8220;Speed Wagon&#8221; and a broadcaster, was playing a dubious game with three women at a luxury hotel in Tokyo.
 Matsumoto was overheard saying to one of the women, &#8220;Have my baby!
 Have my baby!
 and other requests in the woman&#8217;s ear. The shocked woman later suffered from PTSD.
 In response, Yoshimoto Kogyo, to which Matsumoto belongs, issued a statement on its website on December 27.
 The company stated, &#8220;There is no such fact and the article in question is extremely damaging to the social reputation of the celebrity in question and defamatory to her reputation.
 The statement went on to say
 We are strictly protesting the news, including the manner in which it was reported, and will consider legal action in the future.
 The company completely denied the allegations.
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 Bunshun, on the other hand, stated
 The article is based on multiple detailed testimonies, and we are fully confident that we have done our best to support our reporting.
 The Internet has been abuzz with the timing of the accusation against the woman.
 Although there has been criticism on the Internet for the timing of the woman&#8217;s accusation, she has stated that she was encouraged by the recent trend of accusations of sexual assault and decided to go ahead with it. Experts who are familiar with the issue of sexual victimization also commented
 Many people who have been sexually victimized are not able to immediately report it. You can see this in the fact that the issue of the late Janie Kitagawa&#8217;s sexual assault was finally denounced this year. It is wrong to criticize just because time has passed.
 He points out.
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Bunshun has been covering this story for quite some time. Not only Bunshun, but also this kind of story has the risk of litigation, so we carefully communicate with the legal department when we publish the story.
 That&#8217;s why we got the go-ahead from &#8230;&#8230;. Regardless of its authenticity, there is no doubt that Bunshun has confidence in it.
 The source said, &#8220;Matsumoto&#8217;s ugly story will be published in the paper.
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 On the 26th, when it was learned that Matsumoto&#8217;s scandal would be published, the &#8220;tense&#8221; atmosphere in the entertainment world was tremendous.
 Entertainment reporters received a steady stream of inquiries from entertainment professionals and television personalities asking, &#8220;What is it about?
 What is the content of the article?
 When they were informed of the contents of the article, they replied
 &#8220;Oh my God, &#8230;&#8230;. 
 It&#8217;s outrageous!
 Most of them were shocked.
 The presence of Yoshimoto Kogyo and its head, Matsumoto, in the entertainment industry is that significant. Moreover, the Osaka-Kansai Expo is coming up in 2013. Yoshimoto Kogyo is backing the project with its entire company, and Downtown is the &#8220;face&#8221; of the project. Mr. Matsumoto must not waver at this point in time.
 The fact that former chairman Hiroshi Osaki, who served as Downtown&#8217;s manager, left Yoshimoto Kogyo in June was also a factor.
 &#8220;Considering the &#8216;proximity&#8217; between Expo &#8217;70 and Yoshimoto, he took measures to avoid accusations of profit-taking&#8221; (sports newspaper reporter).
 (Sports newspaper reporter). Mr. Osaki is co-chairman of the &#8220;Osaka-Kansai Expo Event Review Council.
 Yoshimoto is wary of the &#8220;second arrow&#8221; that Bunshun is expected to fire at the beginning of the new year. &#8220;Yoshimoto is wary of the &#8216;second arrow&#8217; that Bunshun will be preparing at the beginning of the new year, and is naturally aware that it will appear.
 The article mentions Ozawa&#8217;s name as Matsumoto&#8217;s attendant, but his agency, Horipro, has no choice but to leave the matter to Yoshimoto. Although Horipro is also a large firm, they have no choice but to say, &#8216;We have nothing to say to you.
 Matsumoto was interviewed by Bunshun on the 22nd of this month and appeared as a judge at the M-1 Grand Prix held two days later. According to a person involved in the program, he did not seem to have changed at that time.
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 According to a source close to the show, &#8220;From Matsumoto&#8217;s point of view, it will be a bad end and beginning of the year, not knowing if he will be hit with a second Bunshun arrow at the beginning of the year. However, he doesn&#8217;t want to be written off as a depressed person who has lost a lot of weight, so he is leading his life as usual.
 Many comedians are concerned about Matsumoto&#8217;s future, and although they whisper about it in group lines, it is taboo to mention the incident publicly.
 In the midst of all this, Matsumoto updated his own X-rated page on the 28th,
 I thought I could quit at any time, but&#8230;I&#8217;m getting motivated&#8230;&#8221; he commented.
 he commented.
 It seems that &#8217;24 will be a tumultuous start.

 Yasuko Sakaguchi

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