General News

Fuji TV Board Meeting to Be Held Over Scandal; To Discuss Employee’s Alleged Involvement, President Quitting

AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko
Members of media outlets wait in line in front of the Fuji TV headquarters prior to a news conference in Tokyo, Monday, Jan. 27, 2025.

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:05 JST, January 27, 2025

Fuji Television Network, Inc. was to hold an emergency board meeting on Monday afternoon over allegations that a Fuji TV employee was involved in the scandal connected to now-retired entertainer Masahiro Nakai.

The meeting was to be followed by a press conference from 4 p.m. Monday.

The agenda at the board meeting will include the responsibility of Fuji TV’s top management in the case, including the possible resignation of the broadcaster’s president, Koichi Minato.

Osamu Kanemitsu, the president of Fuji Media Holdings, Inc., the parent company of Fuji TV, met reporters in front of his house in Tokyo on Monday morning. Asked about the case and whether Minato was considering resignation, Kanemitsu said: “You can think that everything you’re imagining is happening. But, ultimately, it’s all up to the discussion at the board meeting today.”

Minato did not answer the questions from reporters who gathered in front of his house.

Fuji TV held a press conference on Jan. 17 as well, but the company was harshly criticized for limiting the participants to selected reporters and refusing to let TV stations film it. The objectivity of Fuji TV’s in-house investigations has also been doubted, and many companies have pulled their commercials.

To further investigate the case, the company set up a third-party committee on Thursday, which is supposed to be highly independent. The committee is set to submit its report around the end of March.

Some Fuji TV executives are questioning whether Minato should retain his post.

Weekly magazines reported in December that a woman was subjected to unwanted behavior by Nakai after a dinner party at his home, and that a Fuji TV employee was involved in organizing the dinner.

At the end of December, Fuji TV denied its employee was involved. Minato said at a press conference that he learned about the matter in June 2023, immediately after it happened, but a Fuji TV variety show hosted by Nakai continued to be broadcast.

Nakai admitted to the issue on Jan. 9, and all the TV and radio shows he had regularly appeared on subsequently canceled his appearances. He announced his retirement from the entertainment industry on Thursday.