Masahiro Nakai’s Advance Notice and Why TV Networks Took a Cautious Approach to a Resolved Issue

If Nakai was aware that it was a scandal of retirement-level proportions

Masahiro Nakai, 52, has disappeared from the entertainment world. It all started with a woman’s trouble reported in the December 19 issue of “Josei Seven” last year. About two and a half months have passed since then.

The presidents of all major commercial TV networks except Fuji Television and TV Tokyo recently held regular press conferences in rapid succession to review how they handled the situation at the time.

What NTV, TBS, and TV Asahi had in common was that they were informed in advance by Nakai’s side that the article would be published before the release of Women’s Seven. At that point, the details of the trouble were not explained.

NTV broadcasts “The! Sekai Ohten News” for NTV, “Masahiro Nakai’s Friday Smile Tatsu” and “THE MC3” for TBS, and “Masahiro Nakai’s Saturday Night Club” for TV Asahi. A TV station official recalls.

“At that time, no one imagined it would turn into such a major uproar. With various year-end and New Year’s special programs in progress, if Nakai himself had recognized it as a retirement-level scandal, he would have withdrawn from appearances at that point. However, I heard that no such announcement was made at all.”

TV Tokyo, which aired “Entertainment World All-Star Kusayakyu 2024” on December 30 last year, did not receive any advance notice from Nakai’s side, perhaps because it was a one-off program, according to President Ichiro Ishikawa,

“I first learned about this incident through the weekly magazine reports in mid to late December.”

The tide turned in the December 26 issue of Shukan Bunshun. The headline read “SEX SCANDAL,” and it became clear that the nature of the trouble was sexual in nature and that the victim woman’s anger had not abated.

“The headline of the initial report by Josei Seven was ‘Masahiro Nakai: Overcoming a Woman Trouble with a Huge Settlement Payment.’ While the details of what had happened were kept under wraps, the article stated that a settlement of 90 million yen had been reached and the matter was considered resolved. Given this framing, it’s no surprise that there was an atmosphere of optimism. However, Bunshun’s report suggested that although a settlement was reached, the woman involved was not satisfied, and further detailed coverage seemed imminent. On top of that, the term sex scandal weighed heavily. In today’s TV industry, sexual misconduct is strictly off-limits. Every network, from top to bottom, was in an uproar, holding daily discussions on how to handle Nakai’s programs,” said a television network insider.

“We should have dug deeper—TV networks’ regret”

When it was revealed that Kinsuma, featuring Nakai, had canceled its New Year’s recordings around the same time as Bunshun’s release, other networks followed suit. From there, Nakai’s downfall to retirement from the entertainment industry began.

A different television network insider commented:

“Looking back, we should have dug deeper when Nakai’s side first explained that a magazine article was coming out. At the time, Nakai was a top-tier celebrity in the industry. It’s easy to imagine that networks exercised caution, thinking, ‘Let’s not pry too much,’ without knowing how Josei Seven would report on it. Moreover, the fact that a settlement had been reached became a source of reassurance for the TV networks.”

Figures like Matsumoto Hitoshi (61) from Downtown demonstrate that sometimes a celebrity wields greater influence than a TV network itself. At the core of this whole issue is the long-standing culture of granting special treatment to such high-profile figures.

“Big-name celebrities get special dressing rooms, different meals from other cast members, and multiple humidifiers prepared in their rooms. When they arrive at the station, top executives greet them, and post-shoot dinners are entirely covered by the network. If a celebrity expresses interest in meeting someone, every effort is made to adjust the casting. Casting decisions should technically be up to the networks, but this kind of favoritism has been the norm. That’s why, when a major star gets into trouble, hesitation creeps in, and the initial response is delayed,” said an entertainment reporter from a sports newspaper.

Looking at how three major commercial broadcasters (excluding TV Tokyo, which was not contacted by either Fuji TV or Nakai himself), their responses varied.

At TBS, Nakai’s last appearances were on THE MC3 on December 9 and Kinsuma on December 13. He had not appeared on any programs after Josei Seven’s first report.

Nippon TV aired Nakai’s last appearance on Nakai no Mado on December 27. TV Asahi broadcasted Doyouna Kai on December 21, meaning he continued to appear even after the report.

When asked if their decision to continue airing Nakai’s programs after the report was influenced by two factors—(1) the issue being reported as resolved and (2) Nakai being a major celebrity—Nippon TV’s PR department responded via email:

“Before the release of Josei Seven, Nakai informed us that he had been interviewed by a magazine. We subsequently sought further explanations from his side, but many details remained unclear. As a result, we had no grounds to suspend the broadcast of Nakai no Mado: Revival SP on December 27. After discussing the matter directly with Nakai in early January, we made a comprehensive decision to cut his scenes from the January 7 broadcast of The! Sekai Gyoten News and subsequently had him step down. Moving forward, Nippon TV will continue to handle such matters appropriately in accordance with our human rights policy.”

TV Asahi’s PR department responded via fax:

“We closely monitored the situation, but as there were many uncertainties regarding the truth of the matter, we decided to temporarily suspend his programs from the beginning of the year. After considering various opinions from viewers and advertisers, we determined that the environment was not suitable for continued broadcasts and ultimately canceled the program. (Regarding whether Nakai’s status as a major celebrity influenced the decision) There is no truth to such claims.”

Even Nakai, a big-name talent, has now vanished from the entertainment industry. Perhaps TV networks should have handled the situation with greater caution.