Masahiro Nakai, 52, a former member of the very popular group SMAP who became a TV presenter in Japan, is in turmoil. Media reports revealed in January that he paid a woman 550,000 euros (90 million yen) to resolve what they cautiously described as a “sexual problem.” Under pressure from an outraged shareholder, the Fuji TV channel announced that it would open its investigation.
The channel accused of “unforgivable shortcomings”
The facts date back to 2023. According to Japanese tabloids, one of the Fuji TV employees had organized a meal where Masahiro Nakai would have met the woman concerned by the affair, which the channel denied.
However, Rising Sun Management, a subsidiary of the American fund Dalton Investments and a major shareholder of the parent company of the television channel, called on Fuji TV to establish a committee of independent experts responsible for “clarifying the facts” and proposing “ corrective measures”.
“The glaring absence of consistency and, above all, transparency in the reporting of the facts, and the unforgivable gaps in your reaction deserve serious condemnation (…). This not only contributes to undermining viewer trust, but also erodes value (titles) of shareholders,” Rising Sun said in a statement. “As one of your main shareholders, controlling more than 7% of the capital, we are outraged! »
The star has “never used force”
After this scathing statement, Fuji TV indicated that it had examined “the facts” with external lawyers since the first revelations. “We will take appropriate measures based on the results of (cet) examination”, underlined the channel in a press release sent to AFP on Thursday. When asked, a spokesperson for the media group declined to make any further comment. Fuji TV had already taken measures last week, suspending the weekly show presented by Masahiro Nakai.
Since the start of this affair, the stock of Fuji Media (parent company of Fuji TV) has plummeted on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, losing 13% over the last three weeks. Masahiro Nakai’s talent agency told local media, including the daily Asahi Shimbun, that it could not discuss the details of the case due to confidentiality agreements but assured that the star had “never resorted to force neither had become violent.”
The scandal comes after the now-defunct boy band empire Johnny & Associates, long headlined by SMAP, admitted in 2023 to allegations of sexual abuse by its late founder. Music mogul Johnny Kitagawa, who died at the age of 87 in 2019, had for decades sexually assaulted adolescents and young men in search of fame.
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