The chairman and president of Fuji Television Network Inc. will resign over the reported sexual misconduct scandal involving former entertainer Masahiro Nakai, the company said at a news conference on Jan. 27.

At the beginning of the news conference, Chairman Shuji Kano said, “First of all, as a company, we would like to offer our sincere apologies to the woman concerned, whom we were unable to care for adequately due to our lack of awareness of human rights.”

Kano also apologized to viewers and advertisers.

President Koichi Minato said, “I resigned because I keenly felt responsible for causing this situation.”

According to reports from weekly magazines, sex-related trouble occurred between Nakai and a woman at a dinner party in June 2023, and a senior official of Fuji Television may have been involved in arranging what turned out to be a one-on-one encounter.

Both Nakai, who has retired from the entertainment industry, and the company have denied a Fuji TV official was involved.

The broadcaster has also come under fire for continuing to air Nakai’s program after learning about the incident.

“Although we gave top priority to the recovery of the woman’s mind and body and the protection of her privacy, we are keenly aware that there are some things we failed to address, including the fact that the suspected human rights violation was not properly reported internally,” Minato said.

He also acknowledged: “We continued to allow Nakai to appear on the programs without conducting appropriate verification, and we failed to verify how celebrities and related people were meeting for meals.

“In retrospect, I am keenly aware that there were some points that we failed to address.”

He added that his own lack of awareness of human rights prevented the governance of the entire company from functioning.

“The woman required a long period of medical treatment and was unable to return to work as she had hoped. We failed to understand her feelings. Our company’s response caused her deep disappointment,” Minato said.

He said he hopes to meet with the woman and apologize to her in person.

Kenji Shimizu, an executive managing director of Fuji Media Holdings Inc., the parent company of Fuji Television, will assume the president position as of Jan. 28.

Fuji Television held an earlier news conference on Jan. 17 that was roundly criticized.

Participation at that news conference was limited to a few media groups, and TV cameras were not allowed.

This time, the news conference was open to online media, freelance journalists, as well as TV camera crews.

Shimizu said: “This incident has once again brought home to us the weight of trust and the seriousness of losing it. The human rights that are now being questioned are the most basic rights that everyone is born with to pursue happiness. Any act that infringes on this right must not be tolerated.”

WHAT HAPPENED?

Afterward, the head of Fuji Television’s public relations bureau explained the series of events that the company is currently aware of.

The trouble between Nakai and the woman occurred in June 2023.

“Although there was a possibility that a human rights violation had taken place, the matter was not properly shared within the company after some employees became aware of it, and no formal investigation was conducted regarding Nakai,” the official said.

“If (we) launched a formal investigation, many new people would learn about the incident. We feared a negative impact on the woman’s care. We were also concerned that if Nakai were to contact the woman after the investigation, it might further harm her.

“Under these circumstances, we did not immediately and proactively conduct an interview,” he said.

According to the official, in July 2023, Nakai contacted the Fuji side, and the company learned that the woman and Nakai had different perceptions of the event.

The company believed the act occurred in a private setting and viewed it as a problem that should be resolved by the parties involved, the official said.

In the same month, when the woman talked with a company employee, she expressed her dislike of the Fuji Television employee who was suspected of having been involved in the dinner party.

But the company did not confirm the facts with the person who was allegedly involved.

President Minato was not informed of the incident between Nakai and the woman until August 2023, the official said.

After the incident was reported by media outlets late last year, Fuji Television repeatedly interviewed the employee suspected of involvement.

According to the public relations official, the employee said, “I was not aware of the existence of the dinner meeting itself on that day, meaning that I did not set up the meeting and, therefore, I had never canceled it.”

The employee was also asked to submit his cellphone history, including short messages and LINE correspondences.

Fuji Television confirmed his communication with Nakai, the woman and others before and after the day of the dinner party was said to have taken place, the official said.

As a result, the company said it could not confirm reports that suggested the employee’s involvement in the dinner party, the official said.

He also said Fuji Television interviewed Nakai multiple times, and quoted the celebrity as saying, “The employee was not involved in the dinner party.”