The Japanese network Fuji Television and its parent company say its president and chairperson are resigning immediately to take responsibility for a widening sex assault scandal linked to one of Japan’s top TV celebrities.

Top brass at Japanese network giant Fuji Television and its parent company have stepped down following explosive allegations involving former SMAP frontman Masahiro Nakai and claims of a corporate cover-up,

The president of Fuji Television Network Inc. and the chairman of its parent company will both step down over the handling of a sexual harassment scandal that has already toppled one of Japan’s most prominent TV hosts.

Japanese magazines accused Masahiro Nakai, a TV host and leader of the former boy band SMAP, of sexual misconduct. Nakai has worked for Fuji TV and other broadcasters

Masahiro Nakai, a former leader of Japan's once-hugely popular boy band SMAP, reached a costly settlement with a woman over an alleged sex assault.

The chairman and president of Japan’s Fuji Television resigned Monday, weeks after a celebrity presenter was accused of sexual assault, causing a public relations storm and the mass exit of advertisers.

Fuji TV chairman Shuji Kano and president Koichi Minato stepped down to take responsibility for an alleged sexual assault by a TV host at a 2023 dinner that the Japanese network is alleged to helped organize.