Downtown” Hitoshi Matsumoto’s “Following and Bribing Victim Woman Report” Leads to Withdrawal of Lawsuit.

We have been informed that they want to publish an apology.

On November 8, “Downtown” Hitoshi Matsumoto, who had filed a civil lawsuit against the Weekly Bunshun, which reported sexual assault, seeking 550 million yen in damages for defamation, withdrew the lawsuit. Matsumoto announced the decision through his lawyer’s office,

Matsumoto once attended a meeting attended by women. If any of the women who attended the meeting were offended or hurt, I would like to frankly apologize.

and commented, “We are sorry if any of the women who attended the meeting were offended or hurt by the event.

He apologized not only to the women who were the subject of the trial, but also to those who attended the meeting and were offended by it.

In contrast, Shukan Bunshun issued the following statement in the name of its editor-in-chief.

After consultation with the women, we have decided to withdraw our position as a defendant. After discussions with the women, we have agreed to withdraw the statement as a defendant.

It is said that Matsumoto had been negotiating with Bunshun behind the scenes to settle the case since the second preparation for argument, which was supposed to take place on August 14, was postponed. In fact, Masahiro Tashiro, the lawyer representing Matsumoto’s side, said that he “neither denied nor affirmed” the settlement negotiations.

In the first place, the reason why they brought the case to court was because they said, “We will fight it because it has no basis in fact. In the first place, it was Matsumoto’s side that brought the case to court, saying, “I’m going to fight it because it has no basis in fact.

But the “end of the war” after even making an apology to the victim woman seems quite unwilling. ……

He asked her to stop appearing in court.

In July, the Weekly Bunshun reported that Matsumoto had “followed” and “obstructed” a female victim, Ms. A. The lawyer whom Ms. A. had consulted for many years about Matsumoto’s sexual assaults appeared in the paper under her own name. The lawyer who had been consulting with Ms. Ako about Matsumoto’s sexual assaults for many years appeared in the newspaper under his own name. He claimed that he was asked by Attorney Tashiro to “stop her from appearing in court. He also confessed that he was told by lawyer Tashiro that he was having an affair with Ms. A and that he was threatened that it might be reported in an article.

(Women’s magazine reporter) Attorney Tashiro denied these incidents, but admitted that he hired an investigation company with Matsumoto’s approval to “follow” Ms. Ako and investigate her.

After this report came out, public opinion turned quite harsh on Matsumoto’s side, saying, “They were doing this behind the scenes. The revelation of the “behind-the-scenes maneuvering” also tarnished the court’s impression of the case. In addition, the possibility of a lawyer testifying under his own name as an acquaintance of Ms. Ako’s must have put a lot of pressure on the Matsumoto side.

The trial, which had attracted much attention, ended with Matsumoto’s side “dropping the lawsuit. We wonder what impact this outcome will have on Matsumoto’s entertainment activities.