TV Industry Expected Shintaro Morimoto from Tontsukatan to Discipline Fuwachan During Their Trip

In response to the huge uproar caused by Fuwachan’s offensive comments about Yasuko (25) on social media, Shintaro Morimoto (34) of the comedy trio Tontsukatan who is one of the central figures in the controversy, has finally spoken out.

Morimoto was traveling with Kanou (35) from A Masso when Fuwachan made a reposted comment saying, ＜You are not important, so please die. You’re out in the preliminaries.>

In the apology posted after the offensive comments caused a major scandal, Fuwachan explained the circumstances leading to the offensive posts as follows.

＜At the time of the post, I was talking about anti-comments, and when I happened to see Yasuko’s post, I wrote something to the effect of ‘If there are anti-comments on this,’ and showed the screen with the content of the post to those present. I mistakenly ended up posting it.>

In the apology, Fuwachan stated that neither Morimoto or Kanou were ＜not involved in the post>, but there were voices asking, “So, who is ‘the person present’?” “If they were traveling together, isn’t it natural to assume Morimoto and others were involved in the ad-libbing?”

On August 24, Shintaro Morimoto, who appeared on the YouTube channel Hairdresser Comedian Komori Garçon ch, said, “I can clearly say that I was not involved” in the controversy. He further insisted:

＜Being accused of something I didn’t do is definitely hard to take. But on the other hand, I’ve never been involved in something that caused a scandal. It makes me think how people distort the facts.

 

To protect the “gem of the entertainment world,” Yasuko, Roshan also sealed his sharp tongue and provided support.

This statement quickly drew responses on the internet, such as ＜What exactly wasn’t done?> and ＜With whom was she ad-libbing during the trip?> However, there was also disappointment from within the television industry.

It is said that Morimoto was expected to fulfill “a certain role.”

 

According to a television writer, Morimoto is considered someone who can speak to Fuwachan.

“His level of fame is lower than Fuwachan’s, but in terms of career experience, he is a senior and has a deep personal relationship with her. He understands Fuwachan’s personality well. That’s why, even though they were traveling together in private, it was precisely because of him that a certain role was expected.”

This role is said to be similar to Yabe Hiroyuki’s (52) role as a partner when Okamura Takashi (54) of Ninety-Nine was involved in a scandal in 2020.

At that time, many people were suffering from poverty due to job losses caused by the new coronavirus. In response, Okamura made offensive comments on his radio show All Night Nippon, leading to an apology.

＜Once (the coronavirus) is under control, cute people will work briefly as hostesses (prostitutes).> ＜You need to make money quickly because it’s tough.> ＜So let’s endure it for now.>

It was Yabe who rescued his partner from this predicament. After the slip-up, Yabe made an unexpected appearance on the first episode of All Night Nippon following the incident, giving a public reprimand. “You alone might cause more trouble,” Yabe said, and returned as the show’s host, transforming the program from Ninety-Nine Okamura Takashi’s All Night Nippon to Ninety-Nine’s All Night Nippon.

“There was a perfectly suited stage for this situation, named ‘Fuwachan’s All Night Nippon 0 (ZERO).’ “There were voices online saying, ＜Let’s have Morimoto come and give a serious scolding!! No matter what happens, it will be a broadcast accident, so if it’s just Fuwachan, things will really get out of control; someone needs to manage it.>＜For now, let Morimoto go and handle it, it’s really tough with just Fuwachan alone.>”

However—Fuwachan’s offensive comments became a scandal on the 4th. With All Night Nippon scheduled to air in the early hours of the 5th, the show was abruptly canceled, and on the 9th, it was announced that the program was being terminated and Fuwachan would be stepping down.

“In the ‘public reprimand’ incident, Yabe pointed out Okamura’s behavior, such as his arrogant attitude towards the staff, and criticized how his arrogance led to problematic remarks. If Morimoto, who knows Fuwachan well, had given her a proper scolding for her disrespectful attitude and habit of being late, public dissatisfaction would have likely been eased. Perhaps Fuwachan would not have been forced into suspension.”

What Morimoto should have done was not protect himself but give a loving reprimand to save his close friend. That is the honest opinion of those in the television industry.