Tomomi Itano: “Criticism and Slander Are Not the Same” — Fires Back at Baseless SNS Speculation

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The story

Former AKB48 member Tomomi Itano updated her X (Twitter) account to share her feelings about a situation in which snippets of her posts have been taken out of context, fueling baseless speculation such as claims that she “lacks love for her daughter as a parent.” After explaining that her intent in sharing her worries and struggles was to help others feel “I wasn’t the only one,” she made clear that “criticism and slander are not the same thing.” On 5ch, some posters sympathized with her point, while others pushed back, arguing that she might be labeling any opinion she finds inconvenient as slander — leaving the thread divided over where exactly the line between criticism and slander should be drawn.

Tomomi Itano (35), a former AKB48 member now working as a talent and entrepreneur, updated her X account on the 4th.

She wrote about how snippets of her social media posts have been taken out of context, leading to baseless speculation such as claims that she “lacks love for her daughter as a parent.”

Itano explained that by sharing her worries, struggles, and even personal details, she hopes people will feel “I wasn’t the only one,” and that she wants her account to be a place where people can share honest feelings and connect with one another. “Of course, I understand that there are all sorts of opinions and values out there,” she added.

Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here

What people said

3AnonymousSep 4, 2026 13:32
Watching "Baakin-kun" on YouTube beats watching the Peace-kun mascot from Omiya Park any day.
8AnonymousSep 4, 2026 13:35
Forget what she actually said — she's just disliked, period.
28AnonymousSep 4, 2026 13:45
Re: #8
Get it through your head, that's slander. You're way too clueless.
36AnonymousSep 4, 2026 13:49
Re: #8
Before you post on 5ch again, go say that same line to your reflection in the mirror 1,000 times.
You'll end up with a better life than you've got now.
15AnonymousSep 4, 2026 13:40
Simple fix: just don't post it where any random stranger can see it.
16AnonymousSep 4, 2026 13:40
The way she keeps sucking on that water bottle straw is probably a sign she's lonely.
17AnonymousSep 4, 2026 13:41
This is the same person who was visibly swooning for real back when Kimura "wall-slammed" her (kabe-don) on Bisuto SMAP.
18AnonymousSep 4, 2026 13:41
Wait, does she actually get paid based on video views or something?
19AnonymousSep 4, 2026 13:41
What even counts as "the truth" anyway?
20AnonymousSep 4, 2026 13:42
Looks like you guys are getting scolded again (´・ω・`)
22AnonymousSep 4, 2026 13:42
SNS is full of attention-seekers with a strong need for approval — both the ones posting and the ones watching.
Figuring out how to navigate that skillfully is probably the real challenge.
I'm too much of a coward, so I just watch from a safe distance 😅
23AnonymousSep 4, 2026 13:43
They're just picking fights to blow off steam, so it's pointless saying anything to them.
25AnonymousSep 4, 2026 13:43
Your real, honest feelings
are something you only say
to the people around you that you actually trust.
27AnonymousSep 4, 2026 13:44
She doesn't need to go putting herself out there in public like that, does she?
I don't know the details, but her "business," whatever it is, seems to be going fine, right?
29AnonymousSep 4, 2026 13:45
This is probably about the thing where her daughter goes to an international school and speaks English as her first language, so she's not great at Japanese — but the parents themselves can't speak English, so they're the ones struggling.
30AnonymousSep 4, 2026 13:45
If you can't just brush it off the way Tsuji does, quit social media.
31AnonymousSep 4, 2026 13:47
For the ones who are clearly crossing the line, all you can do is quietly take them to court.
39AnonymousSep 4, 2026 13:52
As long as you're broadcasting publicly, criticism comes with the territory.
If you don't want criticism, do it in a closed circle among friends instead.
41AnonymousSep 4, 2026 13:53
The people who spew slander are usually the ones most convinced they're just stating a fair opinion, so I doubt saying this will change anything.
47AnonymousSep 4, 2026 14:01
Re: #41
That cuts both ways — the side that brands anything inconvenient to them as "slander" and refuses to listen is doing the exact same thing.

"Criticism and slander are different" is true enough, but it means something very different if the actual rule is "what's convenient for me is opinion, what's inconvenient for me is slander."
51AnonymousSep 4, 2026 14:04
She's actually pretty level-headed, surprisingly.
Miles better than Mariko Shinoda, at least.
52AnonymousSep 4, 2026 14:04
I doubt it, but… is there any chance she's actually just really disliked?
Probably not, but still.
53AnonymousSep 4, 2026 14:07
Re: #52
Did this person even have fans back in her AKB days to begin with? That's the level we're talking about.
68AnonymousSep 4, 2026 14:18
The video where the kid was babbling something and got shut down with "stop whining!" was kind of sad.
The way the kid reached both arms out trying to run and hug its mom made it even more heartbreaking.

Keiji Takahashi just scurried off ahead of them, and the kid was getting brushed off by him too, so that part was sad as well.
72AnonymousSep 4, 2026 14:26
Re: #68
Other people's family business — who cares.
71AnonymousSep 4, 2026 14:20
With a wife like that, the husband probably can't focus on baseball.
75AnonymousSep 4, 2026 14:37
Re: #71
It's not just the wife — there's also the limit of his own talent.
He's only surviving because Yakult runs things like a family-style team.
At this rate he's basically guaranteed to get cut from the roster next year.
Wouldn't even be shocking if it happened this year, but, well, it's Yakult.

Background and Points of Contention

Itano’s post comes against the backdrop of her social media — where she has long shared posts about parenting and her personal life — being “clipped” out of context and used to spread speculation that doesn’t match the facts. In recent years, the bar for filing disclosure requests to identify anonymous posters has dropped, and it’s become increasingly common for celebrities to pursue legal action over online slander, so it’s not unusual, in that light, for a public figure to spell out the line between “criticism” and “slander” herself. In the thread, while some posters sympathized with her point, others pushed back, arguing that “criticism and slander are different” might just be cover for labeling any opinion inconvenient to her as slander — and the debate never really settled on where that line actually falls. Note: the thread contained numerous unverified posts naming her ex-husband and past relationships in connection with alleged crimes; since these could not be confirmed, they have been excluded from this article. Ironically, those very posts were themselves live examples of the “slander” Itano was calling out.

※This article is compiled as an excerpt/summary of the 5ch (Geinou/Sports Express+) thread “[Entertainment] Tomomi Itano addresses speculation about herself: “I feel like I can only give safe, non-controversial answers now” — warns against character attacks and slander: “Criticism and slander are different”“.

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