Current TV Professional Reveals Secrets of TV Stations After Nakai’s Departure

If I refuse, I may lose my job

The issue where Fuji TV’s programming executive B was involved in arranging women for former talent Masahiro Nakai (52), which eventually escalated into a sexual assault controversy.

According to a massive investigation report, spanning 394 pages, released by Fuji TV’s third-party committee on March 31, the incident where Takashi Ishibashi from the comedy duo “Tunnels” allegedly harassed a female Fuji TV employee is also believed to have been arranged by Executive B.

The drinking party “Sweet Room Meeting,” which was held in December 2021, was also set up by Executive B. Nakai and “Talent U” allegedly arranged a 2v2 situation with female announcers, asking staff to leave the room. Nakai then touched the woman’s body, and Talent U stripped and invited another woman to the bed.

Looking at the sequence of events, it becomes apparent that Executive B’s actions were likely designed to make the women feel:

“If you refuse, you might lose your job.”

Nakai’s trouble became public in December last year through tabloid reporting, and afterwards, other television stations began to reflect on the situation as a warning, using Fuji TV’s downfall as a cautionary tale.

A current TV staff member revealed:

“Not only employees but external staff were given surveys, asking questions like ‘Have you ever been harassed?’ or ‘Have you ever witnessed harassment?’ followed by details like ‘When’ and ‘By whom.’ Honestly, harassment is something I’ve seen quite a lot, but I thought it would be troublesome to go through follow-up interviews if I wrote everything, so I just wrote ‘I don’t know.’ However, in the end, no matter what you wrote, management met with all staff members, and expert-led training was also conducted. Nakai’s situation has completely changed the TV industry.”

Acts of violence from senior to junior on a filming set

Indeed, the television industry in the post-Nakai Masahiro era seems to have become much stricter on harassment. Since then, numerous cases of harassment have come to light.

There have been reports of power harassment and sexual harassment involving Hiroshi Ikushima, sexual abuse allegations against the comedy duo “TKO’s” Takayuki Kinoshita, power harassment by “Live News It!” anchor Minoru Aoi, and sexual and power harassment cases from BS Fuji’s “Prime News” anchor Osamu Hoshimachi, all of which were revealed in Fuji Television’s third-party investigation report. As mentioned earlier, Takashi Ishibashi and the controversial “Talent U” are unlikely to easily return to television.

On the other hand, I also spoke to current television executives.

“They say they conduct surveys and training, stating that harassment will be dealt with strictly, but there are still some untouchable areas. If a staff member reports sexual or power harassment, unless it is something particularly severe, sometimes they turn a blind eye. The reason is that experienced directors are in extreme shortage, and if the perpetrator is a highly skilled staff member, they are irreplaceable. It’s a terrible situation, but we try to calm down victims, such as ADs, but with many new graduates entering each year, honestly, I secretly wish they’d just quit.

However, now there are ways to raise evidence on social media or leak it to weekly magazines, so we can’t afford to ignore victims. Recently, a veteran director who lightly punched a junior colleague in frustration over a mistake during a shoot had his contract terminated. Violence can easily escalate into a criminal case, which is one level above harassment.”

It is clear that, due to Nakai’s issue, awareness of harassment has become stricter. However, behind the scenes, there still seems to be some degree of consideration for talented staff or performers. With society’s harsh scrutiny and a shortage of manpower, where is the television industry headed?