Masahiro Nakai’s “confidant” Mr. B forced him to kiss, demanded mimicry at a job interview…more “Fuji TV’s extremely dangerous testimonies” to come.

Demanding “sexy poses” during job interviews

The impact of the investigation report released by the third-party committee in response to a series of problems at Fuji Television has lingered.

The 400-page report details the troubles between former TV personality Masahiro Nakai (52) and former TV announcer Ms. A, which began with the incident.

The report also reports on the e-mail exchanges between Mr. Nakai and former executive producer Mr. B, which the third-party panel recovered through a method called “digital forensics,” the December 2021 suite drinking party at a Tokyo hotel, and the “celebrity Mr. U” who attended the party. The report, however, still contains some unforgivable descriptions.

For example, former Fuji announcer Ayako Kato, 39, a.k.a. “Katopan,” spoke on a variety show in 2017 about the “sexy pose” question during a job interview. The interviewer asked the prospective student to strike a sexy pose.

I raised the hem of my skirt a little. I thought it was sexy, so I thought I should show it. I raised it up to my knees.

Katopan answered, “I raised it up to my knees.

According to the investigation report, there were several people who gave the same testimony as Katopan, and the fact was confirmed. In addition, there were other cases where impromptu “imitations” were requested.

Mr. B himself, who is said to be at the center of a series of problems, is also accused of “sexual harassment.

According to the report, around 2020, he sexually harassed a junior female employee by inviting her out to dinner and pressuring her to kiss him. In 2023, when a junior female employee asked him for advice about her work, he invited her out to eat, made crude remarks, touched her, and kissed her. The report states

The report condemns the conduct as “highly malicious” because it involved sexual contact with a junior female employee who was in a weaker position than he was.

The report condemns the act as “highly malicious.

The third-party committee’s investigation confirmed that such sexual harassment was an everyday occurrence.

The ’80s and ’90s Flavor Still Prevails at Fuji

It is well known even within the station that Mr. B is a “kisser,” and when the photos leaked onto the Internet, the station staff was not surprised. In fact, it was treated as if it was just the tip of the iceberg, and station staff jokingly said to each other, “I wonder if other photos will be leaked? (a current Fuji Television station employee).

The report includes the results of a survey of executives and employees and some episodes. While the entire company is prone to harassment, many of the comments were made by executives, who are supposed to serve as role models for employees. In particular, then-President Koichi Minato, who had been in the Variety field for many years, took surprising action when sexual harassment and power harassment cases occurred at the station.

In 2022, Mr. B, a man in the Variety Production Department of the Programming and Production Bureau, engaged in violent sexual harassment of a woman in the same production department. The female victim said

I don’t want to make a big deal out of it.

However, Mr. B, her supervisor, failed to report the incident to the Compliance Promotion Office and the Human Resources Bureau, even though he was aware of what was going on. As a result, this issue came to light through an internal report in December 2023, and Mr. B was punished last year.

In the process, however, the president “intervened” in the investigation led by the Compliance Promotion Office. He told those in charge of the Compliance Promotion Office

The investigation was “too much” as a method, and the perpetrators were not allowed to hear about it.

and that the perpetrator was also being investigated.

The perpetrator was told by the Compliance Office that the investigation was underway, and that he had been asked by various people, “What did you do? They came to me because they were in a desperate situation.

The third-party panel was told that Mr. Minato made a statement as if he was asking for consideration for Mr. B. The third-party panel was informed of Mr. Minato’s statement.

The third-party panel said that Mr. Minato’s words and actions

The third-party panel described Mr. Minato’s words and actions as “thoughtless actions that risked distorting the investigation.

The third-party panel described Mr. Minato’s words and actions as “thoughtless behavior that could potentially distort the investigation. A sports newspaper reporter in charge of entertainment said, “He has too little awareness of the victims’ human rights.

He has too little awareness of the human rights of the women victims. They must have been in the same mood as in the ’80s and ’90s. In the report, there was a scene in which he took a female Fuji TV announcer and a female employee to a dinner with an entertainment production company, and they were all enthusiastic about going to the meeting.

Although both Mr. Minato and Mr. B are no longer in important positions, it is unlikely that Fuji’s corporate culture will change so easily. Reform is likely to be a long process.