Executives at Japan`s Fuji TV and parent firm resign over a sex scandal linked to a former star

The Japanese network Fuji Television and its parent company say its president and chairperson are resigning immediately to take responsibility for a widening sex assault scandal linked to one of Japan’s top TV celebrities. The case centers on Masahiro Nakai, a former leader of Japan’s once-hugely popular boy band SMAP, and his costly settlement with a woman over the alleged sex assault at a 2023 dinner party that Fuji TV staff allegedly helped to organize. The allegations surfaced in magazine articles in December and have since triggered claims of systematic cover-ups by Fuji TV executives. Fuji Television Network President Koichi Minato said Monday that his company mishandled the case.