Iwahashi Alleges Power Harassment by Masatoshi Hamada’s Aide

“I was punched twice in a row, and I got a bruise. YOU, who was watching, said, ‘That’s not okay. If anything happens, I’ll testify.’ The reason is a mystery; he silently punched me. Frustrated, I thought, ‘Enough is enough,’ and messaged Mr. H on LINE.”

” ‘Why do I have to be hit? Did I do something wrong?’ Then the reply I got was, ‘Sue me.’ After that, I was asked by my senior whether I wanted the work related to Company B (the post was made under a real name) and Mr. Hamada to disappear, or if I wanted to go and apologize. Since I had a family, I reluctantly chose to go and apologize, although it was frustrating.

When I went to apologize, Mr. H’s first words were, ‘If it weren’t for me, you would’ve been erased.’ And so, due to that power harassment and atmosphere, I decided to leave Mr. Hamada’s group. That was about five years ago, and since then, I haven’t received much work related to Company B. No, they’re probably just deleting it.”

“I wanted to be with Mr. Hamada but also wanted to leave. When those things were happening, Mr. Hamada would just laugh. The fact is, there was pressure that I couldn’t refuse, especially when it was happening in front of Mr. Hamada.”

In addition, he wrote in a heart-wrenching manner about the reality of bullying that was too severe to be called power harassment.

“When looking at H’s X, it was mentioned that he made his AD debut on MBS’s ‘4 Jikan desu yo (1987-1989), so it seems he has a relationship with Mr. Hamada for over 35 years. If such power harassment occurred in front of Mr. Hamada and he didn’t intervene, there is a possibility that responsibility could extend to Mr. Hamada.

In recent times, TV stations have heightened compliance awareness, and sponsor companies are also scrutinizing closely. It might be challenging to continue using Company B and Mr. H in the future, even if it’s what Mr. Hamada desires.” (TV station insider)

However, Iwahashi deleted all related X posts on the 28th. However,

“Under the presence of the group leader and chief manager, I had a discussion with the vice president, was persuaded, resisted initially, but ultimately came to terms with it, and deleted the tweet. However, now again, uuuuuh, it’s a tough time! But I promised!”

he said, revealing his painful heart. However, it is hard to believe that he deleted the tweet with complete satisfaction.

“In fact, Iwahashi had previously revealed similar content not only about X but also during a live broadcast. Perhaps he wanted to challenge the unspoken rules that seemingly tolerate bullying in the entertainment industry.” (Online news reporter)

Following Matsumoto’s sexual scandal, the power harassment issue emerged from Hamada’s surroundings. How will the TV stations and the public react?