Masahiro Nakai, one of Japan’s top TV hosts and a former pop star, said Thursday he was retiring to take responsibility over sexual assault allegations that are part of a wave roiling Japan's entertainment industry and have triggered an avalanche of lost advertising at one of the networks where he worked.
Weekly magazine Shukan Bunshun reported in December that Nakai had reached a 90 million yen ($580,000) settlement with a woman over the alleged sex assault at a 2023 dinner party that Fuji TV staff allegedly helped to organize. He acknowledged “a trouble” and a settlement, while denying any violence, in a statement earlier this month. The magazine has also alleged that Fuji TV has long exploited its female announcers to entertain stars like Nakai.
