The Chairman and President of Japan’s Fuji TV have resigned over the dealing with of the sexual misconduct scandal involving TV presenter Masahiro Nakai.
In a press convention held at present, Fuji TV Chair Shuji Kano and Koichi Minato, Head of Fuji Media Holdings (FMH)’s TV wing, introduced their resignations, bowing their heads alongside different executives earlier than they spoke. EVP Kenji Simizu has been promoted to switch Minato as President. He has dedicated to “ranging from scratch” to make sure no related incidents happen in future and the BBC reported him saying he’ll “by no means tolerate acts that violate human rights.”
Advertisers have been pulling advertisements from the community in droves after allegations that Fuji TV execs have been engaged in a cover-up over Nakai, who was accused of sexually assaulting a lady at a dinner organized by community employees in 2023.
Final week, Fuji TV held a unprecedented board assembly and established a third-party committee that may oversee a “complete and impartial investigation into the info surrounding a sequence of reviews issued since December 2024 concerning an incident involving a expertise showing on Fuji TV’s program and a lady in June 2023.”
Outcomes of the committee’s investigation are anticipated by the top of March. “Fuji TV and FMH are dedicated to totally cooperating with the third-party committee all through the investigation,” an accompanying assertion learn.
The committee added that the community “sincerely apologizes” to “viewers, advertisers, promoting companies and different stakeholders for any inconveniences and considerations arising from latest reviews involving Fuji TV.”
The Japanese authorities has referred to as on Fuji TV, which is among the nation’s greatest business networks, to regain viewer belief, and the exit of Kano and Minato might be seen as a primary step in that course. Nakai shouldn’t be being investigated by police.
Fuji execs had admitted to understanding concerning the allegation towards Nakai, a former SMAP boyband member and host of quite a few TV exhibits, however had not disclosed as a result of the community “prioritized the girl’s bodily and psychological restoration” and proper to privateness. Native reviews mentioned Nakai had continued to seem on applications after execs have been conscious of the scenario.
That didn’t sit effectively with many corporations, who instantly started pulling advertisements. In the meantime, shareholder Dalton Investments and its UK affiliate, Rising Solar Administration, expressed “outrage” in a public letter to the Fuji board printed this month.
“I really feel deeply the load of my duty for undermining belief within the media,” mentioned Minato on the Tokyo press convention. “Wanting again, I understand there have been shortcomings in our response, and I acknowledge my lack of know-how concerning human rights.”
Nakai has denied being violent with the girl. Reviews counsel he paid her ¥90M($580,000) after the allegation arose. Final week, he introduced his retirement from TV and from present enterprise.
Different networks that ran his exhibits have opened their very own investigations to search for additional wrongdoing.
The Japanese leisure business has confronted a reckoning in the course of the previous couple of years or so over these points following allegations from greater than 1,000 individuals towards the late expertise agent Johnny Kitagawa.
