Nakai Masahiro embroiled in scandal

Back on December 19th, “Josei Seven” announced the scandal involving former SMAP member and popular TV host, Nakai Masahiro (52) and a woman.

It is said that the “trouble behind closed doors” occurred at a dinner party in 2023. The dinner was originally scheduled to be held with Nakai, another man who was a programming executive at Fuji TV, and a woman (who works in the entertainment industry), but the man was suddenly unable to attend, leaving only Nakai and the woman together and two were to have dinner with each other. After that, it is said that “a serious problem arose between the two people behind closed doors, which escalated into trouble.

After that, a discussion was held between Nakai and the woman through a representative, and Nakai reportedly paid a settlement of 90 million yen. Nakai’s agency said through their attorney, “Please understand that the matter has been resolved through discussion between the two parties before. “We have a mutual confidentiality agreement, so we will not answer publicly”.

UPDATE: Sponichi is reporting that “Nakai contacted a woman who was working at a broadcasting station at the time and went out to eat with her. The incident in question occurred after the dinner, and the woman reported to her employer that she had been sexually assaulted. It is unclear whether she was actually sexually assaulted, as it occurred between just the two of them, but Nakai later appointed an attorney to negotiate the matter and paid a settlement to resolve the matter”.

Meanwhile, Fuji TV denied a weekly magazine report that a Fuji TV employee was involved in the trouble between Nakai and the woman. Some weekly magazines had reported that a senior employee of the station had set up the dinner party between Nakai and the woman, but then canceled at the last minute. Some online media cited these reports, leading to a series of slanderous and libelous comments against the station. The station claimed, “The contents contain factual information, and the employee in question was not involved in the dinner party mentioned in the article, including setting up the party”. And appealed, “We cannot overlook any content that could lead to slander or libel, so please refrain from posting it”.

On the morning of December 25th, Sports Nippon and Bunshun Online reported new information about the trouble, and the following day, Weekly Bunshun (Bungeishunju) reported further details, sending shock waves through the public.

“The female victim, Ms. X, who was interviewed by Shukan Bunshun, called Nakai the ‘perpetrator’ and commented that she has not forgiven either him or Fuji TV.

According to the Bunshun article, Nakai’s representative acknowledged that there was trouble between the two parties and stated “At least as far as we are aware, there was no instance of him hitting her or using violence”.

With the victim now speaking out, the situation at the TV stations, which had previously remained silent, is now changing. Now, recordings of programs in which Nakai appears are being revealed one after another. The recording of the New Year’s episode of his regular program, “Nakai Masahiro’s no Kinyoubi no Sumairu-tachi e” (Nakai Masahir’s Friday Smiles) (TBS), which was scheduled for December 26th, has been canceled, meetings for other stations’ programs have also been canceled, and it seems that the New Year’s recording of another station’s program may have been canceled.