TV networks drop Japan boy band star over sex allegations

Major TV networks have distanced themselves from one of Japan's biggest 1990s boy band stars after media reports said he paid a woman a large settlement related to alleged sexual misconduct.

The reports, which emerged last month, said that Masahiro Nakai, a 52-year-old former member of the hugely popular group SMAP, had paid a woman a lump sum of 90 million yen ($570,000).

That was to settle what most Japanese media outlets have cautiously described as "sexual trouble" concerning an encounter that took place in 2023.

Details are scarce on the incident, but leading tabloid magazine Shukan Bunshun reported that it involved a closed-door setting and a "sexual act against her will."

Major broadcaster Fuji TV said Wednesday that its weekly show hosted by Nakai was "canceled for the time being."

The channel said on its website that the decision was taken after "our comprehensive review of the situation, in light of recent reports about our host Nakai."

Similarly, a weekly Nippon TV entertainment program co-hosted by Nakai went on air, and his appearances were edited out on Tuesday.

The broadcaster told AFP that Nakai agreed with the decision taken from a "comprehensive" standpoint, adding that "appropriate measures will be taken" when asked what will happen to the show.

The now-disbanded SMAP swept the charts in Japan and across Asia during the group's nearly 30 years of fame. Nakai's talent agency was not immediately available for comment when contacted by AFP.

It told local media, including the Asahi Shimbun Daily, that it is bound by a confidentiality agreement between the parties involved not to discuss details of what happened.

The agency quoted the star as saying that she "never resorted to force or became violent" toward her.

One of Nakai's most potent corporate sponsors, SoftBank, has reportedly stopped showing a commercial starring the star.

The scandal comes after now-defunct boy band empire Johnny & Associates -- of which SMAP was long the defining face -- admitted in 2023 to sexual abuse allegations against 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.

FILE: Japanese comedian Hitoshi Matsumoto speaks during an interview in Tokyo on September 7, 2013. Matsumoto belongs to Yoshimoto Kogyo Co., Ltd., and is one half of the comedy duo Downtown. Comedian Matsumoto has taken a break from his entertainment activities since January 2024 in order to respond to a weekly magazine report. Photo by Kaname Yoneyama / Yomiuri / The Yomiuri Shimbun via AFP

Japan's showbiz industry was then rocked by another bombshell sexual assault scandal against Hitoshi Matsumoto, one of the country's most popular comedians.

In November, Matsumoto said he was withdrawing a libel case against the Shukan Bunshun magazine that published the allegations, including that he forced oral sex on one woman and forcibly kissed another.

In detailing Nakai's case last month, outlets including Shukan Bunshun alleged a Fuji TV executive was involved in organizing his meeting with the woman—an allegation the broadcaster has denied.

"Our employee was not at all involved in organizing the event and had no inkling of its existence," Fuji TV said.