Probe accuses ex J-pop star Nakai of sexual assault
An independent panel investigating allegations against an J-pop megastar-turned-TV host accused him on Monday of sexual violence against a Fuji Televsision employee, saying the company's handling of the matter amounted to harassment of the employee.
A leading Japanese tabloid magazine reported in December that Fuji TV's celebrity presenter Masahiro Nakai had performed a sexual act without a woman's consent.
The accusations led to Nakai being dropped from his shows on multiple networks as well as a mass exit of advertisers from Fuji TV and the resignation of the private channel's bosses.
No legal charges have been brought against Nakai, but an independent probe commissioned by Fuji TV to discern what happened reported its findings on Monday.
"We concluded that the woman was sexually assaulted by Nakai," lawyer Akira Takeuchi, who heads the panel, told reporters.
"We also think what happened was not a private matter between two people, but an extension of work," Takeuchi added.
The 52-year-old Nakai, who was interviewed during the probe, reportedly paid the woman 90 million yen ($570,000) over the incident in 2023, and the pair signed a non-disclosure agreement.
Nakai -- a former member of the boy band SMAP, which swept charts across Asia in the 1990s and 2000s -- announced his retirement from showbusiness in late January.
"I alone am responsible for everything" and "sincerely apologise", he said at the time.
He had previously issued a statement saying some of what had been reported was "different from the facts".
The panel's 300-page report also said that Fuji TV's handling of the case appeared to be in favour of the superstar and amounted to secondary harassement of the employee.
The woman left the company last year after being temporarily hospitalised, the report said.
It criticised what it described as the practice of Fuji TV to organise social gatherings to which people are invited based on their gender, age and appearance -- namely young female presenters and staff.
"We sincerely apologise to the victim women for the distress they have experienced as a result of the company's inadequate relief measures," President Kenji Shimizu told a news conference on Monday after the probe results.
Shimizu also noted that the woman's "supervisors, from the director to the then president, did not regard it as a human rights issue".
Takeuchi said "Fuji TV didn't learn from two incidents" -- the suicide of a participant from the "Terrace House" reality TV show, and multiple accusations of sexual assault levied at the late founder of the boy band management empire Johnny & Associates.
Johnny & Associates, which has since changed its name, admitted in 2023 that its late founder Johnny Kitagawa had sexually assaulted teenage boys and young men for decades.
nf/kaf/dhw
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


USA Today
31 minutes ago
- USA Today
BTS members RM and V released from army, tease reunion: 'We will return'
BTS members RM and V released from army, tease reunion: 'We will return' Show Caption Hide Caption BTS' Jin completes his military service with hugs from bandmates BTS members hug Kim Seok-jin, known professionally as Jin, at the end of his mandatory military service. K-pop supergroup BTS members RM and V were discharged from the South Korean military on Tuesday, June 10, after mandatory service, as fans were counting down to the band's comeback with more members finishing their national duty later this month. Cheered by dozens of fans near the military base, the two members in their army uniforms saluted the crowd and said they will soon be returning to perform. "To all the ARMYs who have waited for us in the military, I want to say I am truly, truly grateful. Please wait just a little longer and we will return with a really cool performance," V said in front of fans and media. Known as ARMY, BTS has a global fan club with millions of loyal followers. Two other bandmates, Jin and J-Hope, were discharged from the military earlier and have been performing solo and appearing on variety shows. BTS members RM and V begin mandatory military duty in South Korea as band aims for 2025 reunion Jimin, Jung Kook and Suga are set to wrap their military service as late as June 21, media reports say. The globally recognised K-pop icon BTS has not released a group project since 2022 and its members are hoping for the reunion. "After pursuing our own little ventures, we are now coming back together, and I love that for us," J-Hope told a magazine in December. BTS' Jin celebrates with bandmates after completing military service Entertainment group HYBE, which manages BTS, is planning a huge event called BTS FESTA this week for fans to celebrate the band's 12th anniversary. It is not clear whether the members will show up, but Jin attended last year. Shares in HYBE rose 2.3% as of 0211 GMT, hitting their highest point in more than three years. Holding a flower bouquet for their discharge from the army, RM said he wanted to perform the most. "(Members) would feel the same, but stage performance, I want to perform the most. I'll work hard to make an album soon and come back to the stage," RM said, after playing the sax for the crowd. Groupies from around the world flew in to South Korea to celebrate the return of their "life-changing" stars. "It is just absolutely joyful. That is now four out, two again tomorrow and then Suga. Then we have OT7, we have seven kings back with us," said Philip Darbyshire, a 72-year-old Australian fan, referring to the band's seven members. "It is just wonderful."
Yahoo
39 minutes ago
- Yahoo
My sister took her life after online abuse at 21 – I will never be the same
If my sister Aimee and I were a Venn diagram, the internet was our intersecting centre. We grew up in Southampton and spent every summer in north Turkey, in the small coastal village Edincik, where our mum is from. While we shared the same interests – music, fashion and food – our tastes were different, and online was where they flourished. I always loved second-hand clothes, having practically been raised in charity shops. I grew up cutting out and sticking pages out of Elle magazine to my bedroom walls, and was obsessed with America's Next Top Model, meaning I could name designer brands more confidently than recalling my eight times tables. I was drawn to the early YouTube pioneers – Zoella, Glozell and Jenna Marbles – and I looked up to them for being fully themselves online, at an age where I felt unseen and misunderstood, like so many teenagers do. Aimee, on the other hand, was far more unique – she'd found out she was neurodivergent in her teens. She was way ahead in terms of her taste in music: as a 14-year-old, she was fixated by Pharrell Williams's bands N.E.R.D and The Neptunes, and her curious mind led her to discover the likes of Sade, Kelis, Stevie Wonder, Ice Cube, Tyler, The Creator and Kaytranada. As a teen, Aimee taught herself Japanese, and immersed herself in the food and culture of the country, becoming obsessed with sushi and artists such as Takashi Murakami, which led to her travelling to Japan solo when she was just 18. Sharing my love for thrifting, Aimee sourced rare, collectable Pharrell merchandise, saving up all of her money from part-time jobs to bid in international eBay wars against veteran collectors. She always won. Aimee was brave and bold, and unapologetic in her passions, despite not sharing them with others at school, which marked her as different at an age where being cool meant following the crowd. This was what drew her to social media. Having faced bullying at school, like many neurodivergent teens, Aimee was attracted to online communities that shared her interests. She discovered Grindin', a forum for Pharrell fans. We were glad that she had found a community where she finally felt accepted, and had a space where she could fully express herself and connect with others. Being Gen Z, part of the guinea-pig generation that grew up as children without smartphones but who then got them as teens, both my sister Aimee and I were avid users of social media from its early inception. We would spend hours as teens scrolling on Tumblr, photographing each other in our best outfits on holiday for Instagram, messaging friends on Snapchat. It wasn't the centre of our world, but it occupied a huge part of our adolescence: our online profiles were an extension of ourselves. But in the pandemic, this social media community soon became a double-edged sword. Aimee was at the tricky in-between stage of having finished college and not knowing her next step, and she retreated further online during lockdown. Being cut off from the things that she loved doing – going to art exhibitions, attending gigs and festivals, and eating out with her boyfriend – drastically impacted Aimee's mental health. Spending more and more time in her room, she became withdrawn and removed from us. She split from her boyfriend, stopped going out and was no longer interested in the treasured Pharrell-related belongings she had invested so many years collecting. When I'd try to connect with her, or spark a conversation, she seemed distant. This went on for a year. When she was at her most unwell, she was drawn into the dark side of the internet. In October 2022, the unimaginable happened. My parents were met with a knock on the door from two police officers informing us that Aimee had died. She had been found in a hotel room more than 60 miles from our home town, with a stranger from the United States. We later found out from police that Aimee had been on a partners thread, where members of this forum seek out others to end their lives with. The man who she was found with had been with Aimee for 11 days in the hotel room, and had told authorities he was 'working' during that time. All I can remember from the weeks that followed is a blur of words that seemed wrong being used in the same sentence as Aimee's name; words you only ever hear in crime drama series: investigation, incriminating evidence, assisted suicide, inquest, coroner, family liaison officer. It was clear to me that there was so much more beneath the surface to uncover, how none of the piecemeal bits of information the police told us about the circumstances surrounding Aimee's sudden death added up. We still have countless unanswered questions, questions detectives have failed to answer, and which the pending inquest may not even explore. As a family, we have learnt more about the circumstances of Aimee's death from journalists than we have from the police. Sadly, we only learnt what was happening in her online world after it was too late. Aimee was just 21 when we lost her. We found out after she died, that Aimee had been on a forum which actively encourages people to take their lives, instructing them and even providing the means for them to do so. This forum has taken at least 50 UK lives, including my sister. From looking at the forum myself, I can see just how easy it is to end up in a rabbit hole of despair, where vulnerable users are told their loved ones don't care about them. Essentially, Aimee was radicalised by a toxic network into taking a decision that she could never return from. These are known as 'Com networks', and the National Crime Agency has even set up a taskforce dedicated to investigating men who target vulnerable women and girls and pressure them into acts of self-harm. Being informed by police that Aimee died in a hotel room with a stranger who she met on this forum, and who flew from the US to witness her death, still haunts me. Knowing that Aimee's vulnerability was preyed on, and that others like her could fall victim to the same circumstances, is why, as a journalist and campaigner, I now channel my efforts into advocating for online safety and tech accountability. Since losing Aimee, I've spoken in the European parliament, met with the UK Tech Secretary with fellow bereaved families, protested outside Meta HQ, signed letters to the Prime Minister, all to advocate for better safeguards online. Speaking up about sibling grief and sudden loss is immensely hard and takes a toll, and sometimes I guiltily wish that this wasn't how I was spending my 20s. None of this will bring my sister back, but even if speaking up saves one life, then it is worth it. Until I lost my sister, I never knew the scale of risk that exists online, and the number of bereaved families who are fighting to tackle them. Being part of that fight, I now know that people who are vulnerable offline – children, women, people with mental health issues, neurodivergent people – are more vulnerable online, too. We urgently need a greater public awareness of the scale of harm already taking place, if we are to build a safer digital world for young people. Most children today will experience some type of online harm. What's vital is that they know they can communicate openly and honestly with you about their experiences. Make sure your children know that it is not their fault if something bad happens to them online, and encourage them to come to you or a teacher if something has upset or scared them on social media. The Online Safety Act is at a pivotal point in its enforcement right now. You can email your MP to demand that platforms of all sizes are subject to the fullest force of the Act. While I don't think a smartphone ban is the solution to online harm, it will ensure that children have to best chance to experience their childhood fully in the offline world. This is vital if they are to grow into confident, resilient and empowered young people. There is great strength in numbers – the more parents who support a delay in social media use, the better. R;pple is a secure and confidential free web extension tool that intercepts online searches for self-harm and suicide, diverting users away from content that puts them at risk. Created by Alice Hendy MBE, who lost her brother Josh to suicide, R;pple is a life-saving tool that proves technology can be designed with user wellbeing at the core. Logging Off: The Human Cost of Our Digital World by Adele Zeynep Walton is (Trapeze, £20) is available now. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Warner Bros. Discovery Makes Layoffs Across Cable TV Group
Warner Bros. Discovery, as its cable TV business continues to shrink and viewership falls, has made targeted job cuts across its linear networks. The media conglomerate's linear TV business includes TNT, TBS, CNN, Food Network, Discovery, TLC, Cartoon Network and Turner Classic Movies. The layoffs affect well under 100 employees, a source familiar with the situation told Variety. The source added that no particular location or network was impacted more than others. The cuts — like those at other pay-TV networks affected by cord-cutting declines — are aimed at WBD's ongoing goal of operating more efficiently. More from Variety Warner Bros. Discovery Shareholders Vote Against CEO David Zaslav's $52 Million Pay Package in a Symbolic Rebuke David Leavy, CNN's Chief Operating Officer, Will Return to Warner Bros. Discovery Warner Bros. Discovery, U-Next Strike Global Distribution Deal for Japanese Dramas (EXCLUSIVE) For the first quarter of 2025, revenue in the company's linear TV networks business fell 7%, to $4.7 billion. Warner Bros. Discovery said ad revenue fell 12%, while distribution revenue was off by 9%. The company cited declines in audiences at its networks for the downturns. In Q1, adjusted operating income of the cable TV group fell 15%, to $1.79 billion. The layoffs in WBD's cable group come after Disney cuts its headcount by several hundred employees this week, affecting staffers in TV, film and corporate finance. Last month, S&P Global Ratings cut Warner Bros. Discovery's credit rating to junk status based on its lowered earnings forecast for 2025-26 primarily due to the 'continued revenue and cash flow declines at its linear TV operations,' which the ratings firm said will offset growth in the company's streaming and studio segments. In Q1, Warner Bros. Discovery said, it completed the process of reorganizing the company into two divisions: one comprising its streaming business (plus HBO) and production studios, and the other composed of the rest of its cable TV portfolio. The reorg will 'create opportunities as we evaluate all avenues to deliver significant shareholder value,' CEO David Zaslav said in originally announcing the separation last December. Best of Variety What's Coming to Netflix in June 2025 New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week 'Harry Potter' TV Show Cast Guide: Who's Who in Hogwarts?