Japanese TV execs grilled in 10-hour press conference over celebrity ‘cover-up’
Under fire for its handling of a sexual assault scandal embroiling a top TV celebrity, Japanese network Fuji Television held a press conference to clear the air and salvage its reputation.
It ran for a chaotic 10 hours, wrapping up at around 2am on Tuesday morning after a panel of executives faced an avalanche of questions from hundreds of journalists.
The press conference was livestreamed and followed the company’s announcement that its president and the head of its TV unit would resign immediately over the alleged incident. At times, it descended into a barrage of shouting from reporters who yelled over each other and asked questions that stretched into lengthy tirades.
Fuji TV executives faced a 10-hour grilling over their handling of a sexual assault allegation.
The scandal centres on Masahiro Nakai, a former leader of Japan’s once-hugely popular boy band SMAP, and his costly settlement with a woman over the alleged sex assault at a dinner party that Fuji TV staff allegedly helped to organise in 2023.
Nakai, 52, has acknowledged reaching a settlement with another party but has not addressed the allegations directly. He has apologised on his fan website for causing “trouble” and announced his retirement from show business.
Masahiro Nakai, in 2011, was a boy-band star turned popular TV host.Credit: AP
The allegations surfaced in magazine articles in December and have since triggered claims of systematic cover-ups by Fuji TV executives.
The case has triggered widespread public outrage in Japan over the lack of transparency and explanation by the network, which intensified after it held an earlier news conference and invited only select media. The fallout caused an exodus of advertisers from Fuji, plunging the network into a financial crisis.
In a bid to correct course, it threw open the doors at Monday’s press conference, which was attended by established media as well as freelancers and social media influencers.
SMAP members (from left) Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, Goro Inagaki, Takuya Kimura, Shingo Katori and Masahiro Nakai perform with Taiwanese model Lin Chi-ling in 2011.Credit: AP/Chinatopix
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba weighed in on Tuesday, telling parliament it was the company’s responsibility to explain the situation.
Fuji TV president Koichi Minato and other company officials conceded on Monday the case was mishandled and possibly had violated the woman’s rights. But they didn’t provide new details, citing her privacy as well as a third-party investigation, prompting frustration among reporters.
“We are very sorry that we mishandled the case because of our lack of awareness about human rights and corporate governance … and as a result our responses to the involved woman were inadequate,” Minato said. “We are very sorry to have destroyed our credibility.”
He said it was handled as an “extraordinary” case requiring maximum confidentiality and sensitivity for the woman’s mental health and was shared by a small group of officials. The company had continued allowing Nakai to appear on Fuji shows for a year and six months, he said, but denied covering up the case because it involved a big star.
Minato said he did not think what happened was sexual assault and that the case was not reported to the company’s compliance office until the magazine report came out.
An independent panel is set to report findings of its inquiry into the scandal in March.
Reuters, AP, Bloomberg
Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732).
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