Chairman and president step right down to take duty for a widening intercourse assault scandal linked to superstar host.
Japan’s Fuji Media says its chairman and the pinnacle of its TV unit will step down instantly amid a probe into alleged sexual misconduct by a star TV host.
Chairman Shuji Kano and tv President Koichi Minato referred to as it quits on Monday, weeks after host Masahiro Nakai was accused of sexual assault, inflicting a public relations storm and mass exit of advertisers.
The 52-year-old Nakai reportedly later paid the girl 90 million yen ($580,000) and the pair signed a non-disclosure settlement.
Whereas Nakai has labored for a lot of of Japan’s TV networks, the dinner at which the incident occurred was reportedly organized by one of many broadcaster’s executives.
One of many magazines, Shukan Bunshun, additionally reported the identical govt had in a separate occasion gathered feminine TV personalities at a resort to behave as leisure for Nakai and different celebrities.
Dozens of manufacturers, together with McDonald’s and Toyota, pulled their ads from the personal broadcaster after employees have been accused of making an attempt to cowl up the scandal.
As stress mounted, Kano and Minato introduced their choice to go away.
“I wish to apologise sincerely to the ladies involved for failing to supply satisfactory care attributable to a lack of understanding of human rights,” Kano informed reporters.
“I apologise to the viewers, advertisers, firm members, shareholders… for the nice concern and inconvenience brought on by the sequence of stories reviews,” he added.
Earlier this month, Minato admitted that Fuji TV was conscious of the scandal earlier than it was reported by native media.
The corporate denies claims that its employees have been concerned in organising Nakai’s assembly with the girl, which allegedly happened on the star’s house.
Nakai, a former member of the boy band SMAP, which swept charts throughout Asia within the Nineties and 2000s, introduced his retirement on Thursday after he was dropped from reveals on Fuji TV and different channels.
“I alone am answerable for every thing” and “sincerely apologise”, Nakai stated. He had beforehand issued a press release saying a few of what had been reported was “totally different from the info”.
Fuji Tv boasted Japan’s highest viewer scores within the Eighties and early Nineties, with its cleaning soap operas and widespread comedy and selection reveals.
It aired the primary domestically produced animation Astro Boy in 1963, and has additionally produced movies together with Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Shoplifters which received the 2018 Palme d’Or at Cannes.
The Nakai scandal follows one other large reckoning within the trade, involving now-defunct boy band empire Johnny & Associates, to which SMAP belonged.
Johnny & Associates, which has now modified its title, admitted in 2023 that its late founder Johnny Kitagawa had sexually assaulted teenage boys and younger males for many years.
