The junior members are not to blame,” Hitoshi Matsumoto said… “Kenji Tamura and Sensei Watanabe” are trying hard to put out the fire.

A month has passed since “Downtown” star Matsumoto Hitoshi suspended his entertainment activities.

Matsumoto has filed a lawsuit against Bungei Shunju, the publisher of the magazine, demanding 550 million yen in damages, claiming that he has been defamed by a series of Bungei Shunju reports. In his own X

I will fight it because it has no basis in fact.

In his own X, he left the line, “I’m going to fight it because there are no facts to support it,” and disappeared from the public eye.

Since then, there has been no news of Mr. Matsumoto. Recently, he sometimes makes phone calls to his close comedy friends.

In contrast to Matsumoto, who has not opened his mouth since the lawsuit declaration, those who were treated as “attending comedians” by Bunshun are speaking out one after another.

Tamura Kenji, a pin-up comedian currently in the U.S., referred to the series of reports on a local radio program. The first thing he said was

I contacted Mr. Matsumoto one more time and he said I could talk as I liked.

He then prefaced his remarks by saying, “I’m going to say this clearly,

I’m going to be clear. We do not hold drinking parties for the purpose of sexual entertainment or a sex payment system. There is absolutely no such thing as treating women like property or paying for sex.

He denied this. He added

In the article, it says that a junior colleague of mine told a female friend, ‘I told you to call a girl who can do it without fail. I checked with him to see if he said that without my knowledge. He denied it really strongly. He sounded really sad and it was painful to have to ask him these things. I believe his words, no matter what others say.”

He spoke.

This “junior” is Sense Watanabe of the comedy duo “Crossbar Naoki,” who, like Tamura, reportedly collected women.

He, too, explained the situation on his YouTube and SNS. As if to match Tamura’s assertion

I never, ever said the dirty words in the article, such as, ‘If you decide to have sex, be sure to call a girl who can do it,'” he said. I would never use such nasty words to a woman.

He denied this.

He also denied the “sex payment system” that made the headlines in Bunshun.

Please correct it. It is too rude to women. How do you think my friends would feel if they saw these words? What if they are shocked and say, ‘Did you think that way about me? What if they are shocked? Isn’t that too sad? One of my friends is crying because she is hurt.

One of my friends is crying because she is so hurt.

Matsumoto was silent, and his junior comedians raised their voices.

In response, a person involved in the comedy industry asked, “Can’t you talk freely because of the trial?

I know you can’t talk freely because of the trial, but can’t Matsumoto say, ‘The junior comedians did nothing wrong’ ……? The fact that it is the junior comedians who are desperately trying to put out the allegations makes one feel the vertical society of the comedy world.

Tamura said, “I feel the stove-piped society of the comedy world.

Before speaking on the radio, Tamura called Watanabe for confirmation. It seems that a pyramid-like structure has been formed, with Matsumoto at the top, Tamura in the post of section chief, and Watanabe as a rank-and-file employee.

Mr. Watanabe is too different in rank to directly communicate with Mr. Matsumoto. Tamura-san is the one in between. He is working to stop the uproar.

It’s tough being in middle management, I guess. Mr. Matsumoto is very aware of the trouble he is causing his junior colleagues. If that is the case, he should make a public comment.

Kazutaka Ozawa of Speedwagon, who was the first to be named, is said to be so mentally depressed that he has been forced to go to the hospital.

The first oral argument in the “Matsumoto vs. Bunshun” case is said to be as early as March. Until then, Matsumoto probably plans to make no comment at all.

Fans have been calling for Matsumoto to “show his manhood, Matsumoto-chan,” but what will happen now?