Japan’s Fuji TV probes allegations around Smap’s Masahiro Nakai
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Japanese TV host Masahiro Nakai was a member of the 1990s J-pop sensation Smap.
PHOTO: KINSUMA18_TBS/INSTAGRAM
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TOKYO – Major network Fuji Television said on Jan 16 it was probing allegations involving one of Japan’s biggest celebrities after an activist investor said it was outraged by the lack of transparency.
TV host and former J-pop star Masahiro Nakai, 52, a household name, reportedly paid a woman 90 million yen (S$791,000) after she alleged sexual misconduct.
Fuji previously denied tabloid reports suggesting one of its employees had arranged the meal where Nakai, a member of the 1990s boy band sensation Smap, met the woman in 2023.
The now-disbanded Smap swept the charts in Japan and across Asia during the group’s nearly 30 years of fame.
American fund Dalton Investments’ affiliate Rising Sun Management, a shareholder in the station’s parent company, called on Fuji to establish a committee of outside experts to clarify the facts and present remedial measures.
“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,” said Rising Sun in its statement.
“As one of your largest shareholders, controlling over 7 per cent of the company’s stock, we are outraged.”
Smap members (from left) Masahiro Nakai, Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, Shingo Katori, Goro Inagaki and Takuya Kimura in 2015.
PHOTO: AFP
Following Rising Sun’s statement, Fuji said it has been reviewing the facts with outside lawyers since 2024.
“We will take appropriate action based on the result of the examination,” Fuji said in a statement, read to AFP on Jan 16.
A Fuji spokesperson declined to comment further on the matter.
Fuji Media shares have dropped 13 per cent over the past three weeks since the allegation came to light.
The scandal comes after now-defunct talent agency Johnny & Associates – of which Smap were long the face of – admitted in 2023 to sexual abuse allegations by its late founder.
Music mogul Johnny Kitagawa, who died aged 87 in 2019, had for decades sexually assaulted teenage boys and young men seeking stardom, the agency said.
Allegations about Kitagawa swirled for decades, but it was not until 2023 that they ignited calls for compensation following a BBC documentary and denunciations by victims. AFP
