Mid-Year 2024 Anonymous Entertainment Roundtable Reveals Matsumoto Hitoshi’s Insights and Behind-the-Scenes Stories of Marriages and Independence Rush

The year 2012 began with the shocking news that “Downtown” star Hitoshi Matsumoto (60), who had reigned at the top of the comedy world, would be taking a break from the entertainment business. STARTO ENTERTAINMENT,” which took over the operations of the former “Johnny’s Office,” which was forced to dismantle after the sexual assault scandal caused by the late Mr. Janie Kitagawa, began full-scale operations in April.

Meanwhile, the entertainment media has been busy with a string of big news, including the revelation of serious relationships one after another of nationally known actresses such as Kasumi Arimura (31) and Hana Sugisaki (26 ), including Haruka Ayase (39), who has long been free of scandal.

We invited Mr. A, a director of a key station, Mr. B, an entertainment desk clerk of a sports newspaper, and Mr. C, a veteran entertainment reporter, to a round-table discussion. We asked them to talk about the entertainment industry in the tumultuous first half of the year and what the future holds.

Mr. A: “It has been about eight months since Matsumoto Hitoshi disappeared from TV. Recently, he resumed X with nearly 10 million followers. If you look at the tens of thousands of replies to his social networking posts, one after another, wishing for his return, there is no doubt that he still has a strong influence and charisma. However, it is also true that the TV world is still established even in Matsumoto’s absence. Even if Mr. Matsumoto were to win in court, his deteriorating image and the high fee, said to be at least 1.5 million yen per film, would be a bottleneck, and few producers would immediately appoint him.

Mr. B: “I have heard that in some programs, the mere mention of the word ‘Matsumoto’ in a performer’s mouth is enough for the upper management to order the entire scene to be cut from the program. Now that TV stations are placing more and more importance on the wishes of their sponsors, it is only natural that they would not bother to use Matsumoto, whom their clients and housewives dislike. As long as he has said that he will concentrate on the trial, he cannot come back for a while, and the programs in which he was the main character, such as “Sake no Tsumami ni naru Hanashi” (Fuji Television) and “IPPON Grand Prix” (Fuji Television), have become completely permeated with substitutes. Since the show has been established without Mr. Matsumoto, it is difficult to see a way for his return. At the very least, it is unlikely that he will return to TV within this year. If he were to appear on the stage, what form would it take?”

Mr. C: “I think the most likely case is “Documental. That program is titled “Matsumoto Presents,” so it is impossible to replace him. Similarly, “FREEZE,” distributed by “Amazon Prime Video” and produced by Mr. Matsumoto, was broadcast as scheduled and attracted a lot of attention when Mr. Matsumoto made a comment during his hiatus. Compared to terrestrial broadcasting, the bar for appearing on the show is lower.”

Competition for old Janitorial talent

Mr. B: “Recently, the use of former Janitorial talent in dramas and variety shows has been conspicuous, but I think there will be a clear division between the two in the future.

Mr. A: “All the stations are being asked by their upper management to cast a cast that can target the core viewership (men and women aged 13-49). In that case, they will have no choice but to rely on talents from the former Johnny’s office. This summer season’s drama series have also turned into a battle for former Johnny’s talents, with “Snow Man” Meguro Ren (27) playing the lead in “Umi no Hajimari” (Fuji TV) and “Blackpean Season 2” (TBS) with Kazuya Ninomiya (41) in the lead.

However, the stations are now casting more severely, as they no longer have to make discoveries to the office side as they did before. As a result, offers are concentrated on Meguro, Ninomiya, Fuma Kikuchi (29), and Genta Matsuda (25), who can get good numbers and make people laugh at variety shows. They are talents who have been selected on the basis of their abilities.

Mr. C: “TOBE, led by Hideaki Takizawa (42), is also making rapid progress by having its signature talent “Number-i” perform at the world-famous music festival “Coachella. He and the former Janis co-starred in “Music Day 2024” (TBS). The sudden closeness between the two has attracted attention, but we hear that in many cases, the stations are still making adjustments so that the former Janis’ talent and TOBE’s talent do not overlap. There are many programs that would like to cast TOBE, which is in the groove, so STARTO must be feeling threatened in some ways.

Mr. A: “Speaking of the old Janis, there is a rush of marriages this year. Tsuyoshi Domoto (45) of Kinki Kids and Natsunako Momota (30) of Momoiro Clover Z announced their marriage, and Yuichi Nakamaru (40) of KAT-TUN and Shigeaki Kato (37) of NEWS got married one after another.

Mr. B: “In the old Johnny’s office, there was an unspoken rule that only one married person per group was allowed. However, now that the office has been hit by such a severe earthquake that it was forced to dismantle itself due to the sex abuse issue, they are aiming to wipe out the bad image by allowing the talents to freely fall in love.

Mr. C: “I believe that actress Haruka Ayase (39), who discovered her relationship with Jesse (28) of “SixTONES” in July, will get married soon. Ayase has been rumored to be dating Osawa Takao ( 56) and Matsuzaka Momori (35), but in each case, her agency has outright denied the rumors. This time, however, they half-heartedly admitted, ‘We are leaving their private lives to them. That alone tells us that they are in a serious relationship, and with Ayase about to turn 40, it would not be surprising if they got married at any time.

Mr. B: “I think Yuriko Yoshitaka (36) is also close to getting married. About two years have passed since their relationship, but about a year ago she introduced the other man to her acquaintances and her office. Before the crank-in of the current NHK historical drama “Hikaru Kimi e” (To You, Hikaru Kimi), she informed the people concerned of her intention to marry him. It is quite possible that they will get married at the end of the year, when the drama is over.

Mr. A: “The big holes are Kento Yamazaki (29) and Suzu Hirose (26). There is talk that Yamazaki is too busy with work and marriage is still some way off, but the fact that they are openly going out on dates as if to say, ‘It’s okay to be photographed now,’ suggests that they are both feeling the same way about reaching the finish line. I think the day when they become husband and wife may be near, as Yamazaki is turning 30 years old.

Continued in the second part, “From the dark and light sides of the “retired group” to the drug scandal involving the famous actor X…An anonymous entertainment roundtable in the first half of 2012.

From the August 23/30, 2024 issue of “FRIDAY