News Fuji TV scandal: SMAP star Masahiro Nakai retires

Today, TV personality Masahiro Nakai, allegedly the highest income taxpayer among Japanese entertainers in 2023, stung by a reported sexual misconduct scandal and feeling pressure from corporate sponsors and broadcasters, announced his retirement from the entertainment industry.

The rundown:

The Masahiro Nakai scandal involves allegations of sexual assault against the prominent Japanese TV host. A weekly magazine reported that Nakai reached a 90 million yen settlement with a woman over an alleged assault at a 2023 dinner party, which Fuji TV staff may have facilitated. Nakai denied any violence but retired from the industry, acknowledging the "trouble" caused. Fuji TV initially denied the report but later admitted the settlement. The company now faces scrutiny and a severe advertiser backlash. Just like the scandal surrounding sexual predator Johnny Kitagawa, Nakai is sparking broader discussions about sexual misconduct within the Japanese entertainment industry.

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Weekly magazines in December reported that a sexual incident occurred after Nakai and a woman were the only participants remaining at a dinner party in June 2023. Nakai acknowledged that an incident had occurred but denied reports that a Fuji Television Network Inc. executive may have been involved. In his retirement statement, he expressed regret for failing to fulfil his responsibilities and apologized for causing trouble and loss to many people. He apologized to the woman involved and his fans for his sudden retirement.



Meanwhile, Fuji Television passed a resolution to establish a third-party committee to determine whether the companies were involved in the scandal.



Following sexual misconduct allegations against former J-pop idol and TV host Masahiro Nakai, over 50 companies, representing roughly 30% of Fuji TV Network's sponsors, have pulled their advertising. Major brands like Toyota, Nissan, and Shiseido are halting advertising campaigns with Fuji TV. Fuji TV is one of Japan's largest commercial broadcasters, part of the Fuji Network System (FNS), and includes 28 affiliated stations. It is a key player in Japan's 'Big Five' commercial networks, along with Nippon TV, TBS, TV Asahi, and TV Tokyo. The incident has rocked Fuji TV, with advertisers and shareholders demanding accountability. Criticism escalated after revelations that Fuji TV's management had been aware of the incident for six months before it was reported in the press. Nissan said it had pulled its Fuji TV ads and monitored developments before deciding further steps.

Top post over on reddit says:

As another poster mentioned, he "retired" so networks are featuring their usual tributes, but it's truly in bad taste considering the situation. The fact that they keep labeling this situation as "女性トラブル" also gives insight into how SA victims in the entertainment industry are treated here.

Aside from him being cancelled for sexual assault, Fuji TV is in big trouble too because apparently they had been pushing female announcers and other employees to "entertain" clients. The woman assaulted by Nakai was one such victim.

To make matters worse, Nakai and Fuji TV tried to settle it internally with the victim, but foreign investors found out about it and called them out, demanding a third-party investigation. So it's a huge deal because it involves sexual assault, the essential pimping out of employees, and cover up of said crimes.

I hate that like with the Johnny's exposé (well I guess this is also a Johnny's scandal since it involves a SMAP member) , it took worldwide criticism to bring everything to light but I'm glad that action was eventually taken and since then almost a hundred advertisers have pulled their commercials from Fuji TV.

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I was looking into the investment firm to see what their reasoning was for demanding the investigation but it was just the usual fear of losing money:

"The lack of consistency and, importantly, transparency in both reporting the facts and the subsequent unforgivable shortcomings in your response merit serious condemnation that serves not only to undermine viewer trust, but also leads directly to erode shareholder value," read the statement, published by Dalton, which is known as an activist investor. "As one of your largest shareholders, controlling over 7% of the Company's stock, we are outraged!"

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Let's completely ignore the fact that a women was assaulted and they had the chance to do the right thing. But perhaps their argument about viewer trust is the only thing a big network like Fuji TV cares about.

The president of Fuji Television Network Inc., Koichi Minato, resigned today following allegations that a network employee helped arrange a meal where Japanese TV host Masahiro Nakai is accused of sexual misconduct. The scandal surrounding Nakai, a former member of the now-disbanded pop group SMAP, has brought intense scrutiny to the network. Fuji TV is also facing criticism for handling the situation, which led to Nakai's announcement that he is retiring from the entertainment industry.

Fuji TV has been criticized for its response after the scandal surfaced in December, only holding its first press conference on the matter on Jan. 17 at which the number of participants was limited and filming was banned. Dozens of Japanese companies have since stopped advertising on the network.

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Paywall alert:

thomas said:

The president of Fuji Television Network Inc., Koichi Minato, resigned today following allegations that a network employee helped arrange a meal where Japanese TV host Masahiro Nakai is accused of sexual misconduct.

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Whenever these gentlemen step down from places of power where do they go? I've often wondered which sort of jobs they get afterwards, and if their scandals follow them throughout their carreers. Surely they don't become normal salary men?
Here, they basically have to go to jail to get any sort of bad rep - and even then it's still possible to become both politicians and successful businessmen, even if not many do so.

dracuella said:

Whenever these gentlemen step down from places of power where do they go? I've often wondered which sort of jobs they get afterwards, and if their scandals follow them throughout their carreers. Surely they don't become normal salary men?

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Many are already in their 60s or 70s and no longer need to work. We call them "Frühstücksdirektoren" in German and perhaps "amakudari" (天下り) in Japanese: oftentimes, they are former bureaucrats or executives from other companies who retire in well-paid positions. The Fuji TV scandal is of historic proportions and might spill over to other juggernauts in the entertainment and news industry: power imbalances, lack of transparency, and inadequate protection for individuals are probably not restricted to one media outlet.

Yesterday's press conference at Fuji TV lasted 10 hours and 23 minutes, and it knew no restrictions:

SMAP has been around for so long now...are/were they even still relevant before this scandal any more? Not to lessen the scandal, but I'm surprised to even hear the term 'SMAP' in 2025!

Kimura and Kusanagi seem to do a lot of advertising, being visible on TV on a daily basis: the former for Nissan, the latter for adult diapers.

Nakai is history.

dracuella said:

Whenever these gentlemen step down from places of power where do they go? I've often wondered which sort of jobs they get afterwards, and if their scandals follow them throughout their carreers. Surely they don't become normal salary men?
Here, they basically have to go to jail to get any sort of bad rep - and even then it's still possible to become both politicians and successful businessmen, even if not many do so.

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I always thought one of the best (lucrative) careers is to become a failed CEO. They all have golden parachutes and even if they are lousy at the job, their main skill is convincing people they're great. If they have to move on after people realize they're not great, then they collect a huge payout before moving on to the next role.

Due to a scandal involving former TV host Masahiro Nakai, sponsors withdraw advertisements from Fuji Television Network Inc., impacting the leading network and its 28 regional affiliates. Fuji TV and its affiliates are projected to lose 1.3 and 1.4 billion yen (approximately $8.35 to $8.99 million) in advertising revenue by March 2025.

Affiliates are particularly vulnerable, as they rely on advertising for roughly 90% of their income and are estimated to face additional losses of 200 to 300 million yen (approximately $1.29 to $1.93 million). Sponsors have replaced ads for Fuji TV programs nationwide or terminated contracts with individual stations.

mdchachi said:

I always thought one of the best (lucrative) careers is to become a failed CEO. They all have golden parachutes and even if they are lousy at the job, their main skill is convincing people they're great. If they have to move on after people realize they're not great, then they collect a huge payout before moving on to the next role.

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The rijicho** at the small uni where I worked was forced out, a good thing (and good riddance), but the nature of the pay system meant that he gets paid for the rest of his life--no lump sum, but he's still getting what is likely ¥20m/yr, maybe more.

**best way to describe him is that he was trump, trying to run the place like he was king (obviously narcissistic), but this was about 2010 or so, well before Mr. Tangerine Man.++

++and I've hoped that someone would re-write the lyrics to this, in some cutting way: