Photo/Illutration Masahiro Nakai in 2020 (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Tokyo Broadcasting Television Inc. (TBS) on Jan. 20 said it will scrap a regular TV program featuring Masahiro Nakai, the celebrity entertainer caught up in a sex scandal.

“Nakai Masahiro no Kinyobi no Sumairu Tachi e” is the first TV program to face the ax since Nakai’s alleged sexual misconduct was reported in a weekly magazine in December last year.

TBS also said Nakai will step down from his emcee job of another program, called “THE MC3.”

Other TV stations have taken measures to mitigate damage from the scandal.

Nippon Television Network Corp., for example, has deleted all scenes of Nakai from a program called, “Za! Sekai Gyoten Nyusu.”

Shukan Bunshun, a weekly magazine, published the story about Nakai on Dec. 26, and other publications followed suit.

According to the reports, a dinner party had been planned for a number of people, including Nakai, 52, and an employee of Fuji Television Network Inc.

But at the last minute, it turned into a dinner between only Nakai and a woman. Sexual trouble arose between the two, according to the reports, and Nakai later agreed to pay the woman a settlement.

Nakai released a statement on the official website of his management office on Jan. 9, admitting that “there was trouble” and apologizing.

However, he said some details in the reports were untrue, and he emphasized that “there was no involvement of anyone other than the parties involved.”

After the scandal was revealed, TBS suspended production and broadcasting of programs featuring Nakai.

“We have been in talks with representatives of both sides and other parties, and have made a comprehensive judgment of the situation,” a TBS representative said about its latest decision.

The entertainment industry was still dealing with the scandal over Johnny Kitagawa’s decades of sexual abuse against boy idols at his Johnny & Associates talent agency when the reports about Nakai, a former idol in the popular SMAP group, surfaced.

There have also been recent reports that a female employee of another TV station had her human rights violated at a meeting with celebrities.

In response, TBS said on Jan. 20 that it has opened an internal investigation, which includes a lawyer, to ascertain the facts.

At this time, no trouble has been confirmed, the company said.

But it added, “If a problem is identified, it will be dealt with appropriately.”

According to TBS’s public relations office, the investigation team will examine whether there have been any violations of TBS Holdings Inc.’s human rights policies.

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