Fuji TV hid a star's misconduct for six months — then half its advertisers left

In December 2024 the weekly magazine Shukan Bunshun reported that Masahiro Nakai — former SMAP leader and one of Japan's most bankable TV hosts — had sexually assaulted a woman after a June 2023 dinner, settled with her for a reported ¥90 million, and that a Fuji TV employee had helped arrange the meeting. Fuji TV admitted it had known of the allegation for about six months without disclosing it; president Koichi Minato apologised at a news conference on 17 January 2025, saying he believed employees had done nothing wrong.

Advertisers answered immediately. Nissan, Toyota, Shiseido, Seven & I and Meiji Yasuda were among the first to suspend commercials, and by late January more than 70 companies — around half of Fuji TV's regular sponsors — had stopped placing ads. Nakai announced his retirement from entertainment on 23 January. On 27 January chairman Shuji Kano and president Koichi Minato resigned, replaced as president by Kenji Shimizu.

The company's third-party committee reported on 31 March 2025 that Nakai had sexually assaulted a former Fuji TV announcer, that the incident was work-related, that executives were told in August 2023 and dismissed it as private trouble, and that keeping Nakai on air while sidelining the victim 'falls under the definition of secondary victimization'. The financial damage followed: the company posted a ¥20.1 billion net loss — its first since listing in 1997 — and a ¥8.7 billion operating loss the following year, the first since 2008, as advertising revenue fell more than 30%.