<figure id="attachment_353911" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 525px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-353911"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="f39ce818"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/01/f5d86fc8bedf751f4722e064b2788934-2.jpeg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-353911" class="wp-caption-text">Matsumoto Hitoshi of &#8220;Downtown&#8221; was unable to appear on his last program before his sponsor&#8217;s hiatus. &#8230;&#8230;</figcaption></figure>
 Toshio Ishikawa, entertainment reporter, tells us what&#8217;s going on behind the scenes in the entertainment industry: &#8230;&#8230;
 As the saying goes, &#8220;You can&#8217;t beat a crying child and a smart person.
As the saying goes, TV stations cannot go against their sponsors.
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This was clearly demonstrated in the recent &#8220;altercation&#8221; over &#8220;Downtown&#8221; Hitoshi Matsumoto&#8217;s &#8220;Widener Show&#8221; (Fuji Television Network).
The sexual harassment scandal involving former Johnny&#8217;s s office employee Janie Kitagawa also caused sponsors to pull out of the program, and reports of Matsumoto&#8217;s alleged sexual assault are also causing sponsors to withdraw from the program.
Yoshimoto Kogyo, to which Matsumoto belongs, announced that it would suspend its entertainment activities in order to confront the &#8220;Shukan Bunshun&#8221; that reported the scandal.
 I&#8217;m going to fight it because it has no basis in fact. I&#8217;m going to appear on the Widener Show.
Matsumoto declared, &#8220;I&#8217;m going to appear on the Widener Show. He appeared on the show, which he had voluntarily left in March of last year.
 I&#8217;m just showing my face to greet my fans (who may not be there) before I take a leave of absence. I&#8217;m just showing my face.
and reported it on SNS.
Fuji Television seemed surprised by Matsumoto&#8217;s transmission,
 Fuji Television seemed surprised by Mr. Matsumoto&#8217;s message, but acknowledged his appearance, saying, &#8220;We are not giving out details about the program, including what will be broadcast.
and admitted that he would be appearing on the show.
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However, he was not able to confirm his appearance, saying, &#8220;I did not respond to the details of the program, such as the content of the broadcast.
 He said, &#8220;It is not right to make such a statement on a field in which I appeared. If there is no basis in fact, then he should talk about it at a press conference.
I was also involved in a local broadcast of Fukuoka&#8217;s &#8220;Menno Menko. I voiced the same opinion in a program on Fukuoka&#8217;s local TV station &#8220;Mentai Wide&#8221; (FBS Fukuoka Broadcasting System).
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In the midst of all this, the Weekly Bunshun blurted out the second installment.
Last time, Kazutaka Ozawa of &#8220;Speed Wagon&#8221; played the role of organizer to gather women. In the second installment, comedian Tamura Kenji and &#8220;Punk Boo Boo&#8221; Jun Kurose, who are currently residing in the U.S., are reported to be the conduits for the women. Mr. Ozawa,
 Mr. Ozawa stated, &#8220;There is absolutely no fact that I set up drinking parties specifically for the purpose of sexual intercourse as reported in the media.
and his office announced that he would continue his entertainment activities as before. However, four days later, on the 14th, they announced that they were suspending their activities, claiming that Ozawa himself had made a request.
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Tamura Kenji also appeared on the L.A. radio station &#8220;Tamuken ga LA ni iru Iru&#8221; (Tamura Kenji is in L.A.) and said, &#8220;Mr. Matsumoto of Downtown and I are going to continue performing.
 He said, &#8220;Mr. Matsumoto of Downtown and I and other members had a drinking session with a woman. It is a fact that we had such a drinking session.
He admitted that he had a drinking session with a woman,
 I never intended it to be just what is written in the article, but in my sense it was a blind date. I did it in the sense that it was a drinking party where I drank with women.
Although he denied that the drinking session was a &#8220;sex-assault&#8221; type of drinking session, the fact that he was drinking with women caused a huge stir.
In the midst of such confusion, Fuji Television abruptly cancelled his appearance on the &#8220;Wide Nah Show.
 After consulting with Yoshimoto Kogyo, we made a comprehensive decision.
The reason for canceling the appearance in just one day was explained in the following words, but the sponsors&#8217; &#8220;intention&#8221; is evident in the background.
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The commercials were aired and the sponsors did not drop their names, but the &#8220;sponsorship&#8221; sign was removed. The stations said they would broadcast the programs that had already been recorded, but they were still considering whether or not the programs would continue to exist.
Even if they deny the contents of the article, they will be sanctioned as soon as it comes out, and it is a frightening world in which commercial sponsors hold the &#8220;life and death&#8221; of celebrities.
However, we must be clear about this in order to save the women who have been victimized. The only way for Mr. Matsumoto to get out of this difficult situation is to file a lawsuit for &#8220;defamation of character and factual innocence&#8221; as soon as possible. And then, it will be his own press conference &#8211; I guess.

 Born in Tokyo in 1946. He has a unique career path from Shochiku's Advertising Department to a reporter for women's magazines to an entertainment reporter. He has appeared on "The Wide" and "Information Live Miyaneya" (both on Nippon Television Network Corporation), and currently appears regularly on "Mentai Wide" (Fukuoka Broadcasting System), "Su-Matan" (Yomiuri TV), and Rainbow Town FM.

 Toshio Ishikawa (Entertainment Reporter)

 Yasuko Sakaguchi

 Downtown's Hitoshi Matsumoto once announced that he would appear on the show, and Fuji Television acknowledged his decision. However, as the outcry from those around him grew louder, he toned it down and finally decided not to appear, but behind the scenes ......

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