<figure id="attachment_410177" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 1210px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-410177"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="5eddac62"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/01/045159ef287ab5a81eb90240606448ee.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-410177" class="wp-caption-text">He was finally forced to retire. (2009)</figcaption></figure>
<h3> Reported his retirement from show business on a paid members&#8217; site</h3>
On January 22, 2025, due to a 90 million yen woman trouble, all of Masahiro Nakai’s (52) regular TV and radio programs were canceled. On January 23, he announced his retirement from the entertainment industry on a paid membership site.
Nakai stated, &#8220;I, Masahiro Nakai, am retiring from entertainment activities as of today. As for my company, Nonbiri Nakai Co., Ltd., once all remaining procedures and tasks are completed, it will be dissolved.&#8221;
He explained the timing of his retirement announcement, stating, &#8220;All meetings regarding the cancellation, resignation, and contract terminations with the television stations, radio, and sponsors I have worked with have now concluded, which is why this announcement comes today.&#8221;
He expressed deep regret for the trouble he caused, saying, &#8220;I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and losses I have caused to so many people.&#8221; He also extended his apology to the woman involved, stating, &#8220;I sincerely apologize to the other party as well.&#8221;
&#8220;It was clear that, under the circumstances, his return to television was almost impossible, and retirement was the only option left. Nakai apologized to his fans, saying, &#8216;I’m really, truly sorry for this kind of farewell.&#8217; This made the possibility of a &#8216;SMAP&#8217; reunion even more unlikely. Not just Nakai’s fans, but many &#8216;SMAP&#8217; fans were left saddened by this.&#8221; (Entertainment reporter)
Nakai’s regular programs had been steadily suspended since the New Year. As a result, his final television appearance was on December 30, 2024, during the TV Tokyo program &#8220;Geinokai All-Star Baseball 2024.&#8221;
The program featured a yearly serious battle in baseball between the &#8220;Tetsuroz&#8221; team, led by comedian Tetsuro Degawa (60), and the &#8220;Legend&#8221; team, led by the comedy duo Sandwichman. Last year, Nakai participated as a member of Tetsuroz in their game against the &#8220;Legend&#8221; team.
In the seventh inning, with the game tied and one out with the bases loaded, Nakai stepped up to the plate and delivered a remarkable walk-off game-winning hit. Looking back, it was poignant that his final television appearance featured a walk-off hit. However, what was even more memorable was that during this program, Nakai made outdated, direct sexual harassment remarks.
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<div data-friday-nextpage-lead="The content of the &quot;straightforward sexual harassment&quot; was as follows"></div>
<h3>The sense of misalignment that led to being called an old nuisance</h3>
In the same program, comedian Abareru-kun (38) appeared with his beautiful wife, Yuka, who wore a revealing outfit with an open back, joining the female members of the university&#8217;s cheerleading team. She performed an impressive dance, surprising both Abare-kun and the other cast members.
When Nakai, who had been sitting on the bench, saw her, he inadvertently instructed, &#8220;Could you turn around for a moment? Just turn around,&#8221; and when Yuka smiled and complied, turning around, Nakai excitedly pointed at her back and said, &#8220;So sexy.&#8221; Abareru-kun, laughing, cautioned Nakai, saying, &#8220;Don&#8217;t look at my wife like that!&#8221;
For Nakai, it was likely an unintentional comment, with no awareness of its inappropriateness. Looking back, it seems that in Nakai&#8217;s mind, it was just a normal reaction. His behavior had been pointed out before as a form of unpleasant teasing toward some comedians on the show, and there were reports that referred to him as an old nuisance.
According to this source, Nakai’s behavior on the December 24, 2000, special program &#8220;SMAP Secret X&#8217;mas Party&#8221; (Nippon Television) had left an impression even back then.
&#8220;The show was a live, un-scripted Christmas party with the members and guests. When Tsuyoshi Kusanagi (50) invited Rie Miyazawa (51) as a guest, Nakai repeatedly touched her unnecessarily. Miyazawa visibly showed discomfort, while Takuya Kimura (52) and Shingo Katori (47) stepped in to block him. At that time, Nakai&#8217;s actions were still accepted as &#8216;humor,&#8217; but it seems he hadn&#8217;t changed at all since then.&#8221;
Some viewers had also noticed Nakai&#8217;s subtle misalignment in his behavior. Perhaps, even without the recent trouble with the woman, his actions would have eventually caused a major scandal.
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<div data-friday-nextpage-lead="Such a thing happened... Masahiro Nakai's &quot;humble cohabitation&quot; period"></div>
<figure id="attachment_348737" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 3241px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-348737"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="a620d018"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/12/87d719e0915d5511a9e5fbe46c9b8148.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-348737" class="wp-caption-text">Nakai and his girlfriend, with whom he was living at the time, were seen carefully admiring a car displayed at a Mercedes-Benz showroom. Nakai, known for his unique views on marriage, had such a phase in his life as well (from the December 26, 2003 issue).</figcaption></figure>
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<figure id="attachment_348744" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 5814px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-348744"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="5cb5b831"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/12/c72e481d09e78625ce059bbf539cba52.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-348744" class="wp-caption-text">After visiting the dealership to look at the Mercedes-Benz, Nakai, his girlfriend (on the right), and a man returned to their car. Nakai is smiling (from the December 26, 2003 issue).</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_410184" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 1694px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-410184"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="9a73c4ac"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/01/52d3b3bb0fbaa67c1e0b45f248415c0c.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-410184" class="wp-caption-text">When this magazine confronted Nakai in May 2003, after the scoop about his cohabitation, he froze for a moment (from the May 30, 2003 issue).</figcaption></figure>
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 Takahiro Kagawa (2nd and 3rd), Toshihiro Nakai (4th)

 On January 23, Masahiro Nakai announced his retirement from show business. He had to pay a heavy price for his "90 million yen" trouble with a woman. However, even in what was supposed to be his "last TV appearance," Nakai was too direct in his sexual harassment.

Nakai’s Disconnect with the Public in His Final TV Appearance

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