The difference in “defensive remarks” by junior comedians and entertainers reveals the habit of Hitoshi Matsumoto: “He changes his attitude depending on the person he’s talking to.

On January 22, Yoshimoto Kogyo announced on its official website that Hitoshi Matsumoto has filed a lawsuit against Bungei Shunju Co. and other publishers of the Weekly Bunshun. Since the first report late last year, various opinions have been raised by fellow comedians, junior comedians, and business associates, and have been covered in the news.

Koji Imada, who has had numerous drinking sessions with Matsumoto in the past, said in an information program, “I have no idea,” and “I don’t think the person being reported is the same Matsumoto-san.” Chihara Jr. did not answer clearly when asked about Matsumoto, switching the conversation to Masanori Hamada. Hiroyuki Miyasako said on his YouTube page that he “cannot speak out. Kunimasa Yamazaki and Tomonori Jinnai have not said anything. In other words, junior comedians such as Kazutaka Ozawa of Speed Wagon, who may have “attended” to Matsumoto in the past, are all keeping their mouths shut.

Although the truth of the sexual assault has not yet been confirmed, the public has been harshly criticized by the media. Shunsuke Ito of “Oswald” complained about the excessive criticism during an appearance on the January 14 broadcast of “Wide Nah Show” (Fuji TV).

It is normal for a comedian to be concerned about Mr. Matsumoto. It’s not normal for a comedian to be concerned about Mr. Matsumoto, but to feel that even that is NG is a bit…”

Ringo also complained about the excessive criticism in a January 20 broadcast of “Asa Para S” (Yomiuri TV),

That’s right. I would say that this generation is definitely inspired by Downtown. If they feel like I’m taking their side even a little, they’ll say it on social networking sites.

He expressed his sympathetic opinion. Mitsunori Fukuda of “Tutorial,” who appeared on the same program, said, “Of course, we are also sympathetic to Downtown,

Of course, we are also indebted to Downtown, so we hope he is not like that, but it is normal to have a shoulder to lean on,” he said.

But it is normal to have a shoulder to lean on,” he said, showing consideration for Matsumoto. Emiko Uenuma, who is a close friend of Matsumoto, also expressed her feelings toward Matsumoto on “Uenuma Takada no Kugizuke” (Yomiuri TV) on January 14.

After the “M-1 Grand Prix” in December ’18, there was an “uproar” when some comedians criticized Uenuma, who was a judge, on SNS. The next day, when they were in the waiting room before the recording of “Kugizuke,” Matsumoto asked them directly with his manager. He then said,

Matsumoto bowed his head and said, “I am truly sorry for the terrible things that my junior has said this time.

Matsumoto bowed his head and said, “I was a little moved at that moment,

I was a little moved at that time. I was a little moved by the fact that he came and made such a good entrance in a place where it was difficult to enter, and came to apologize. He bowed his head for the junior members. I thought he was a great person, and I was very moved.

I was very moved.

There were indeed many other work colleagues who said, “Matsumoto’s usual attentive and caring nature makes it impossible for him to treat women the way he did this time,” and they seemed to be uniformly defending Matsumoto by talking about his humanity as they see it. However, a senior executive of a long-established entertainment company disagreed with this trend.

He said, “I think they have misunderstood something. Just because someone is considerate and attentive to his friends does not mean that he does not treat women in an unreasonable manner. There are plenty of examples of that in the past.’ When Shimada Shinsuke assaulted a female manager in 2004, many fellow comedians and business associates defended the gentleman, saying, ‘The female manager was at fault.

There are many people whose front and back faces are different, but in Matsumoto’s case, I don’t think it can be said that he is behind the scenes. He used to play with women and make morally harassing remarks about women on TV as a matter of course, and in the past that was just tolerated. But those days are gone now. I think neither Matsumoto nor the comedians who defend him understand that.”

In the first place, it is highly doubtful whether they seriously believe that Matsumoto’s reported behavior is “unbelievable. However,

“I think it is possible that Matsumoto’s daily behavior toward his immediate junior comedians, with whom he has always had a close relationship, and toward junior comedians and female comedians like Ringo and Uenuma, whom he has gotten to know over the past few years, was completely different. It is possible that Matsumoto himself was unaware of the difference in his behavior, but rather than using them differently, he simply had a different attitude toward the junior comedians who were his hands and feet and those who were not.

Not a few other entertainers have also defended Matsumoto. Why are Takanori Nishikawa, Shiraku Tachikawa, and Teruyuki Tsuchida, who is a comedian from another agency, defending Matsumoto in a roundabout way? One TV station executive had this to say.

I have heard many people in the entertainment business who have worked with Matsumoto say, ‘Mr. Matsumoto is always a gentleman at the launch. So I understand why they don’t want to speak ill of Matsumoto. But instead, everyone is uniformly saying, ‘The composition of the weekly magazine making money is strange. It’s as if “Bunshun” forced Matsumoto to become a target in order to make money.

You say something like, “Even if the weekly loses in court, the amount of compensation is not much, so the one who sells the article even if it is not true wins,” but I think that is not true. I think that is clearly a change of subject. Perhaps, if they directly defend Matsumoto, they might later come under fire themselves, so they have no choice but to make comments like that for fear of that. ……”

Yoshimoto Kogyo issued a new comment on January 24,

We have recently come across an article that states that a number of women who attended a meeting in which our company’s talents were allegedly involved suffered emotional distress, even though it was a private act, and we recognize that this is an issue that we should take seriously.

The company stated, “We are aware that this is an issue that should be handled seriously. It seems that this problem is no longer limited to Matsumoto alone. It is certain that not only comedians, but also those surrounding Matsumoto, will become more critical in the future.

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