“We will notify you of Matsumoto Hitoshi’s resumption of activities as soon as it is decided after consulting with all parties concerned.” On November 8, Matsumoto Hitoshi (61) withdrew his lawsuit against Bungeishunju, the publisher of Shukan Bunshun, which had reported on his sexual assault allegations against multiple women. On Yoshimoto Kogyo’s official website, a statement was posted by Matsumoto’s lawyer along with the announcement above about future developments. “Some sports newspapers are reporting that he will return in the new year. First of all, he plans to restart his career at the theater and is considering doing a stand-up comedy routine with his partner Masatoshi Hamada (61). However, it is said that returning to television is a big hurdle. Matsumoto’s side released a statement saying, “We have confirmed that there is no physical evidence that directly indicates whether or not the incident was forced,” but in the end it remains unclear whether or not sexual assault occurred. Matsumoto himself has not explained the situation in his own words, and there are no plans for a press conference. In the first place, Matsumoto declared in X, “It’s unfounded, so I’m going to fight it,” so many people are not satisfied with the current situation, which could be described as a lack of explanation.” (Entertainment industry source) As attention is focused on his future actions, Matsumoto’s regular show also has a bold plan. On the 11th, just after Matsumoto withdrew his lawsuit, a scene in the TBS program “Crazy Journey” that aired that day showed footage of Matsumoto from the past, which became a hot topic. Furthermore, on the 17th, a segment titled “Complete Conquest of Macchan’s Stores in Tokyo’s 23 Wards” was broadcast on “Downtown no Gaki no Tsukai ya Arahende!” (Nippon TV). The story involves Hamada himself negotiating interviews with a store named “Matchan” and filming on location. The program’s official account announced the following the day before it aired. “Currently, there is an unprecedented shortage of Macchans, so #GakiNoTsukai will visit stores named “Macchan” to replenish Macchans.” “If #Macchan and #Hamachan negotiate an interview, they won’t be turned down. Will they be able to replenish Macchans?” “If #Macchan is negotiating an interview for the first time in his 42 years of acting, will he be able to negotiate an interview for the first time?” However, in contrast to the excitement of the program side, there were also many harsh voices in the comments section, such as “We strongly protest against this broadcast” and “What is this? To gauge the level of public backlash? There is no shortage.” “It’s inevitable that these kinds of productions and projects by TV stations are seen as ‘observation balloons’ to gauge viewer reactions. The timing, coming just after the trial had concluded, may have also been bad. On the other hand, there are many people, both on television and in theaters, who are averse to Matsumoto’s return altogether. On November 15th, a non-profit organization began a petition opposing Matsumoto’s return on the petition site change.org. To date, over 37,000 people have signed the petition, with comments such as “The series of actions seemed extremely suspicious” and “I am against the attempt to return him with such a dishonest response” (as of 2 p.m. on the 21st). The production staff of Matsumoto’s regular program may also be exploring the possibility of his return. However, any hint at Matsumoto’s presence would likely provoke a backlash from viewers, and it could end up being counterproductive,” said a TV station source. Will the day come when Matsumoto makes a public appearance?
>>4 So true This petition requires names and email addresses, so they must be serious On the other hand, if they want Matsumoto to return, their followers should take the risk.
It takes a lot of courage to sign a petition to get him back in this situation. I wish someone would take the lead and collect them. Celebrities seem to be very accepting, so I think they’ll probably attract more people than the general public.
There are hundreds of times more people hoping for his return than there are petitions against him. That’s the truth. Even if Matsumoto Hitoshi’s return is scrapped, your lives won’t be enriched.
Considering the time it took to prepare the show, he must have been talking to the TV station before the lawsuit was dropped. The people at the TV station pretended to be sorry about the Johnny’s incident, but nothing has changed.
>>32 Although there is a risk of personal information being leaked on this site though the people who are signing the petition against it are able to ignore that, right? If you sign the petition in support of it, can’t you take the same risk?
Signature campaign against reversion started on November 15th with 37,000 signatures Signature campaign for reversion started on November 16th with 1,500 signatures Hmm, this.
How about collecting signatures for his comeback? If the numbers show that there are people who are looking forward to his return, sponsors will also be interested.
Personally, I would like to see Yoshimoto enter the vtuber business and Matsumoto Hitoshi make his vtuber debut. Like, live game commentary. I think it will be fun. It would be better if the voice actor was someone other than the real person.
Are signatures really that effective? This applies to everything, not just this, but if it were something like a recall or a referendum, it would be one thing, but if there’s nothing like that going on, even if you collect signatures for something like this…
>>44 Apart from signatures where each individual writes their address and name by hand, there has been no example of anything changing with online signatures, which can be made hundreds of times by one person.
>>44 Isn’t it better than doing nothing? I’m sure the representative will put it all together somewhere and it’s important to know there are a lot of people involved.
>>44 It seems like terrestrial TV stations are very concerned about online reactions, so it’s effective. If the “Matsumoto is innocent” campaign using a ton of influencers is successful, the situation is likely to change.
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