The existence of “a male celebrity of the same rank as Matsumoto” in the Bunshun evidence that is troubling Hitoshi Matsumoto: “Do I have to rethink my trial strategy?

The legal battle between “Downtown” Hitoshi Matsumoto and Bungei Shunju, publisher of the weekly Bunshun, has taken an unusual turn. There have even been reports of a “blitz settlement.” ……

The “Matsumoto vs. Bungeishun” court battle started with the news of the sexual assault at the end of last year. The initial plan was to hold the argument preparation procedure on August 14, but the date was suddenly canceled and postponed. The postponement of this procedure, which was intended to organize the points of contention before the oral arguments in court, further delayed Matsumoto’s return to court.

In the meantime, some weekly newspapers reported on the settlement, but it is difficult to say where it came from.

“I don’t know where they are coming from,” said one industry insider.

said one industry insider.

Bunshun submitted 20 pieces of evidence.

The only thing to mention is that Atsushi Hosono, a lawyer and regular contributor to “Sunday Japon” (TBS), pointed out in a YouTube video distributed on August 19 and 27 that a settlement may be in progress in the lawsuit between Matsumoto and Bunshun. From there, a tail may have wagged and it may have become a settlement report. ……

Yoichi Kitamura, a lawyer for Bunshun, said of the postponement

The court decided to postpone the case,” he said.

“The court decided to postpone the case,” he said,

“We have submitted about 20 pieces of evidence.

He appealed, saying, “We have submitted about 20 pieces of evidence. The reason for the postponement is believed to be Matsumoto’s side, judging from his words.

When we asked both Bunshun and Matsumoto-san about the settlement, no statement of approval came out. The postponement may simply be because Matsumoto’s side is rethinking its strategy.

To begin with, Matsumoto’s side’s complaint is reputed to be “thin,” and although it condemns the series of news reports as “sloppy coverage,” it does not specify which parts specifically fall under this category. In the proceedings up to this point, Matsumoto’s side included in its allegations posts about the victims, Ms. A and Ms. B, made by a certain outspoken distributor on a social networking service.