On Friday, the helmsman of Japan's Fuji Television Network unveiled plans for an impartial inquiry into allegations of sexual misconduct levelled against a prominent celebrity and suspicions surrounding the involvement of network executives. Masahiro Nakai, a former SMAP band member who has sincetransitioned into a celebrated TV personality at Fuji TV, has found himself entangled in local media narratives accusing him of sexual assault at a party reportedly orchestrated by one of the network's staff members.
The saga has cast a dark shadow over the television company's stock prices and prompted one of its major shareholders to pen a letter voicing concerns about its corporate governance. Fuji TV's President, Koichi Minato, issued an apology on Friday for "the immense distress and apprehension caused by these (media) reports," pledging that an external committee would scrutinize the actions of company officials, including himself.
The controversy sprang from reports by Shukan Bunshun weekly magazine in December, which claimed that Nakai had reached a settlement worth 90 million yen ($580,000) with a woman over alleged sexual misconduct at a dinner party the previous year.
In a January 9 statement on his official website, Nakai acknowledged reaching a settlement with a woman over "an incident," categorically denying any violence or third-party involvement, asserting that he had sincerely addressed the woman's demands in the settlement. "This incident is solely due to my shortcomings," Nakai remarked in the statement.
The formal announcement of an inquiry followed scathing criticism from Rising Sun Management, an affiliate of the U.S. investment management firm Dalton Investments, which partially owns Fuji TV. Rising Sun lambasted the network for its lack of transparency and demanded a third-party investigation.
"The uproar caused by Mr. Masahiro Nakai... reflects not merely an issue within the entertainment industry but, specifically, exposes grave flaws in your corporate governance," Rising Sun stated in an open letter to Fuji TV's board dated January 14. "The inconsistency and, crucially, the opacity in reporting the facts, coupled with your subsequent unforgivable shortcomings in response, deserve severe condemnation. This not only undermines viewer trust but also directly erodes shareholder value. As one of your largest shareholders, owning over 7% of the company's stock, we are outraged!"
Nakai was once the leader of SMAP, a five-member singing and dancing boy band that debuted in 1988 and swiftly soared to fame in Japan and across Asia until its dissolution in 2016. Major Japanese TV networks have suspended programs hosted by Nakai or edited him out of footage amidst the allegations.
Nippon Television Network Corp. announced that Nakai would step down as the host of a variety show following a thorough assessment of the situation. This scandal emerges after Johnny & Associates, the now-defunct talent agency that managed SMAP and numerous other groups, admitted in 2023 to sexual abuse against hundreds of teenage boys and young men by its late founder and entertainment tycoon, Johnny Kitagawa.
