TOKYO: One of Japan's biggest boy band stars and best-known television hosts announced his retirement on Thursday (Jan 23) after being accused of sexual misconduct, Japanese media reported.
Masahiro Nakai (pic) said in a statement to his paid fan club that he had "completed all discussions with TV stations, radio broadcasters and sponsors regarding my termination, cancellation, removal and contract annulment," the Mainichi newspaper said.
"I will continue to face up to all problems sincerely and respond in a wholehearted manner. I alone am responsible for everything," Nakai reportedly said.
AFP was not immediately able to confirm the announcement with Nakai's agency, and the star's website was overwhelmed with visitors.
Earlier this month, Fuji Television suspended a weekly show hosted by Nakai after media reports said he had paid a woman a lump sum of 90 million yen (US$575,000).
Other major television networks also said they were dropping the 52-year-old former member of the hugely popular group SMAP.
The allegations concern a 2023 encounter with the woman that leading tabloid magazine Shukan Bunshun said involved a closed-door setting and a "sexual act against her will".
Shukan Bunshun and other outlets have alleged a Fuji TV executive was involved in organising his meeting with the woman, and dozens of top brands including Toyota and McDonald's have pulled their adverts from the broadcaster.
Fuji TV has denied those allegations but said last week it was probing the matter after a US activist investor said it was "outraged" by the company's lack of transparency.
The share price of Fuji Media was down 8.4 per cent on Thursday.
The now-disbanded SMAP swept the charts in Japan and across Asia during the group's nearly 30 years of fame.
The scandal comes after now-defunct boy band empire Johnny & Associates -- of which SMAP was long the defining face -- admitted in 2023 to sexual abuse allegations against its late founder.
Music mogul Johnny Kitagawa, who died aged 87 in 2019, had for decades sexually assaulted teenage boys and young men seeking stardom, the agency said.
Japan's showbiz industry was then rocked by another bombshell sexual assault scandal against Hitoshi Matsumoto, one of the country's most popular comedians.
In November, Matsumoto said he was withdrawing a libel case against the Shukan Bunshun magazine that published the allegations, including that he forced oral sex on one woman, and forcibly kissed another. - AFP
