Actor Ryusei Yokohama’s official fan club issued an unusual public warning on July 26, saying that remarks he made during a members-only livestream had been edited and circulated on social media in a way that distorted his original meaning.
According to a statement posted on the fan club’s official site, portions of Yokohama’s comments from a recent livestream began spreading on social media around July 25, cut out of their original context. The fan club said the remarks were “a personal opinion given in response to a question” and were not intended to criticize or deny any specific work or way of thinking. The clipped comments drew wider attention, with local city and ward assembly members, and even a former member of Japan’s House of Representatives, weighing in on the matter, according to J-CAST News.
In its statement, the fan club explicitly banned the practice of cutting and redistributing footage from its members-only platform, writing that clipping livestream content, or trimming the words before and after a statement to make it appear the speaker said something different, is “strictly prohibited” for FC members. The club added that it was grateful to the “many fan club members who have always been respectful and supportive,” while asking members for their continued understanding and cooperation in keeping the community “an environment where everyone can feel safe.”
As of this report, Yokohama has not issued a separate personal statement beyond the fan club’s message.
Who is Ryusei Yokohama?
Ryusei Yokohama (横浜流星) is a Japanese actor and former model. He got his start as a teen model in Japan before moving into acting, going on to build a career across film, television, and stage that has made him one of the country’s most in-demand leading men, known for roles including the Netflix series “First Love” and the “Tokyo Revengers” film franchise. He maintains an active, members-only fan club, whose livestreams are one of the main ways he communicates directly with supporters.
Author’s Comment
Ah, the classic ‘context is for cowards’ school of internet discourse — someone clips a few seconds out of a members-only livestream and suddenly a former Diet member is weighing in. I don’t know what Yokohama actually said, and honestly, neither does anyone shouting about it online, because that’s the whole problem with a quote stripped of its question and its tone. Japanese fan clubs treat these livestreams like a sacred, members-only space, which is exactly why this one stings — somebody broke the unspoken pact and dragged a private Q&A into the public square. If you ask me, politicians rushing to weigh in on a celebrity’s off-the-cuff answer to a fan question is a bigger red flag than anything he supposedly said. Watch the whole thing or don’t have an opinion, people.
