It began as a scoop in a weekly tabloid: the allegation that a middle-aged former boy-band star turned top television host had paid hush money to a woman for unspecified wrongdoing.
Other articles followed, asserting that it was a case of sexual assault, and stirring a wave of public outrage not only toward the ex-singer but also his employer, a major TV broadcaster, for how it handled the situation.
On Thursday, the man at the center of the controversy announced his retirement, but the episode had already turned into a moment of reckoning. An international investor has criticized the company, Tokyo-based Fuji Television, and Japan’s biggest corporate advertisers have lined up to boycott it. Some 75 companies, including Toyota, SoftBank and the local operator of McDonald’s, have pulled ads and sponsorships.
Not a single commercial now appears on the station’s programming; ad spots are now filled with unpaid public service announcements. Tens of millions of dollars in revenue is at stake as indignant C.E.O.s have called on Fuji TV to address the issue.
“We will cease placing advertisements with the company until a thorough investigation is conducted, the facts are clarified, and appropriate action is taken,” Takeshi Minakata, president of the drink maker Kirin, said in a statement, which added that the company was acting “based on our human rights policy.”
Experts say the anger reveals a new intolerance for sexual misconduct set in motion by an earlier scandal. Two years ago, it emerged that the founder of a top talent agency had sexually abused young men for decades. He died in 2019 without ever facing any charges, and corporate sponsors were accused of having ignored the wrongdoing at the agency, Johnny & Associates.
This time, big corporations are eager to show that things have changed.
“The Johnny scandal marked a turning point,” said Ryu Honma, who has written extensively about the advertising and media industries. “The sponsors were blamed for complicity due to their inaction.”
The current case came to light in mid-December, when a weekly tabloid called Josei Seven reported that Masahiro Nakai, of the disbanded but still immensely popular group SMAP, had become embroiled in “serious trouble” with a woman.
The article said that Mr. Nakai, 52, had paid 90 million yen, or almost $600,000, to the woman, who has not been publicly identified. Subsequent stories by other local media more clearly characterized what happened as a sexual assault.
Earlier this month, Mr. Nakai admitted that an “incident” had taken place and that he had paid to settle it. He said that he had used no violence in the encounter, which took place in June 2023, and that he therefore felt justified in his decision to continue to appear on TV. There have been no official investigations into the case.
Unrelenting criticism and the ad boycott forced him to reverse that decision. On Thursday, Mr. Nakai announced that he was retiring from entertainment and dissolving his talent agency.
“I don’t think that this fulfills all my responsibilities,” he said in a statement, promising to “sincerely cooperate” in any investigation. “I apologize once again from my heart to the other party.”
Anger has also grown at Fuji TV, where Mr. Nakai was a popular show host. According to the tabloid article, it was a Fuji TV employee who set up the meeting in 2023 between Mr. Nakai and the woman in the case.
Fuji TV initially issued a vague denial of “reports in some weekly magazines.” But it later said it was creating an in-house committee to investigate the allegation involving Mr. Nakai, as well as other news media reports that it had long rewarded male talent by arranging encounters with female announcers.
Fuji TV has come under criticism for being slow to confront the situation more directly, and also for how it eventually did so: at a news conference open only to select media, at which no livestreaming or cameras were allowed.
At the news conference, held last week, Fuji TV’s president said his company had learned about the episode right after it happened but did not disclose it.
“Our decision at the time was not to make the matter public, but to respect the woman’s wish to return to work and to prioritize her physical and mental recovery and the protection of her privacy,” said the president, Koichi Minato.
The news conference also came after an American shareholder, an investment company called Dalton Investments, sent a letter to Fuji TV’s management harshly criticizing the company’s failure to react to — much less fix — its problems.
The situation with Mr. Nakai “reflects not only a problem in the entertainment industry generally, but, specifically, it exposes serious flaws in your corporate governance,” the letter said. “The lack of consistency and, importantly, transparency in both reporting the facts and the subsequent unforgivable shortcomings in your response merit serious condemnation.”
The day after Fuji TV’s news conference, big Japanese companies began announcing that they were pulling their ads.
On Thursday, Fuji TV’s parent company, Fuji Media Holdings, weighed in. The president, Osamu Kanemitsu, said that it was “imperative that we regain the trust of our employees, sponsors and viewers.” He announced that the company’s board had decided in an emergency meeting to establish an independent committee to examine Fuji TV’s response.
“It took time for the realization to spread that they cannot look the other way,” said Mr. Honma, the advertising and media critic. “When big customers start to leave, it brings action.”
