Fuji TV chairman Shuji Kano and president and CEO Koichi Minato have resigned in the wake of a widening sexual assault scandal around a 2023 dinner that the Japanese network is alleged to have organized at which a former member of the now-disbanded pop idol group SMAP is claimed to have assaulted a woman.
Kano and Minato announced they were stepping down during a press conference at the Fuji TV headquarters in Tokyo on Monday, the Associated Press reported.
Fuji Media Holdings, parent of Fuji TV, has launched an independent probe into the 2023 dinner at which the celebrity TV host and former pop star Nakai Masahiro is alleged to have assaulted a woman and subsequently paid out a settlement.
The allegations emerged in December 2024 magazine stories in Japan and led Monday to Fuji TV chairman Shuji Kano and president Koichi Minato stepping down amid an internal probe at FMH launched and involving third-party investigators.
“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. We are very sorry to have destroyed our credibility,” Minato told the Tokyo press conference on Monday.
In a statement, FMH said it “sincerely apologizes to our stakeholders for any inconveniences and concerns arising from recent reports involving our subsidiary, Fuji Television Network.” The parent company has faced an exodus of audience and advertisers in the wake of the widening sexual assault scandal involving Fuji TV, one the other country’s biggest television networks.
FMH added the internal investigation would probe any possible involvement of Fuji TV and FMH in the “incident” surrounding the 2023 dinner, the possibility of “other similar incidents,” and whether a cover up at Fuji TV where Masahiro worked followed the alleged sexual assault, as has been claimed.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
English (US) ·