Nippon Television’s Distrust Towards Yoshimoto Kogyo and Unprecedented Statement of Feelings
“Did they think they could just brush it aside?”
The case of Saito Shinji, a former member of “Jungle Pocket,” who was sent for document prosecution, has drawn attention to the unusual response from Nippon Television, where he had close ties.
On the information program “ZIP!”, which featured popular anchor Mami Mizuto, the topic was discussed on October 8, where she commented, “We are very surprised and regretful about this report.” She also revealed that Nippon Television had not been informed of the situation by Yoshimoto Kogyo, stating, “We were told that Saito Shinji was unwell.”
According to a source from the station, even the upper management of NTV was completely blindsided by this revelation.
“The NTV side is not satisfied with Yoshimoto’s response. In fact, it had been reported at the operational level that there had been issues with women for a while. However, even when Saito left ‘ZIP!’ On September 25, Yoshimoto continued to assert that he was unwell, and since they claimed that, NTV could not pursue the matter further. If he had been interrogated by the police since July and was mentally struggling, that cannot be dismissed entirely, but it’s just a convenient excuse, right?
Now that this major issue has surfaced, the Yoshimoto side is reportedly apologizing, saying, ‘We didn’t hear all the details from Saito, so we couldn’t convey the reality.’ Normally, if someone has been interrogated for sexual misconduct, that’s a clear indicator of a problem. Last year, when there was a report of infidelity, they did not remove him from ‘ZIP!’, so this response is unacceptable. Trust in Yoshimoto is waning within the station.”
On October 7, Saito’s wife, talent Seto Saori, issued a statement. While she acknowledged her husband’s infidelity, she partially denied that it was non-consensual.
