NTV’s Monday Late Night Faces BPO Review Over Falsified Comments Likely to Be Canceled

It should not have happened

The possibility of the popular show being canceled has increased.

It has been revealed that the issue of intentional fabrication of comments made by a Chinese woman interviewed on the streets during the March 24 broadcast of the Japan TV network’s “Monday Late Night” (hosted by Matsuko Deluxe, 52, and Shingo Murakami, 43) is likely to be brought before the Broadcasting Ethics and Program Improvement Organization (BPO) for deliberation.

The issue arose from an interview with a woman from Guangzhou, China, in which the broadcast falsely portrayed her as saying,

“In China, we eat crows.”

Japan TV issued an apology, stating,

“The woman never made the statement ‘In China, we eat crows.’ The content was edited intentionally by the production staff, making it completely different from what the woman actually said.”

In response, Seichiro Murakami, the Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications, expressed criticism at a press conference, urging broadcasters to be aware of their social responsibility.

On March 31, Hiroyuki Fukuda, the president of Japan TV, also apologized, stating,

“It went beyond the scope of direction, and it should never have happened.”

He then revealed that the show had completely stopped conducting street interviews.

Obsessed with creating only interesting things

A source from Nippon Television shares:

“On April 10th, the news spread that ‘Monday Late Night’ would be under BPO (Broadcasting Ethics & Program Improvement Organization) review. If the show is found to have violated human rights or other standards, it is often canceled. Some programs manage to survive, but in this case, the focus was solely on making something interesting, and through fabrication, they ended up discriminating against an ordinary Chinese woman who had cooperated in the filming. The consequences are pretty serious. A show like ‘Sukkiri,’ which involved Ainu discrimination, was ultimately canceled. Despite its popularity, ‘Late Night’ is likely in a difficult situation. There have been rumors that they have used power plays for street interviews before, so further misconduct may emerge.”

“While the show is popular because it’s interesting, doping that interest with fabrication and staged content is not fair.”

Previously, when asked by Friday Digital about why this type of editing occurred on ‘Monday Late Night,’ Nippon Television responded:

“The production staff (director) wanted to make the show more interesting and edited the footage based on their own judgment. The director now reflects on the fact that their decision was wrong. Several other staff members, including producers and directors, conducted site checks but didn’t notice the issue. We will thoroughly review our production process and ensure that editing does not deviate from the intentions of those being interviewed. We will also provide additional training and guidance to all the creators involved.”

With the television industry currently facing heavy scrutiny, can Nippon Television make the necessary changes?

(Additional Editor’s Note) On April 11th at 7:00 PM, Nippon Television responded with the following statement:

“We take the fact that this has become a subject of BPO review very seriously and will respond sincerely.”