Nintendo is pulling commercials from airing on the Japanese station Fuji Television (Fuji TV) following an ongoing sex scandal centred around Masahiro Nakai, one of the station’s biggest hosts.
As reported by Nikkei (thanks, Automaton), in December 2024, a 90 million yen ($569,000) out-of-court settlement followed reports alleging that Nakai — also a former member of the hugely popular boy band SMAP — had sexually assaulted an unnamed woman in 2023 at a company-arranged dinner.
Nintendo joins around 50 companies boycotting the channel, including the likes of Nissan and Toyota.
Although initial reports did not immediately cause companies to start pulling ads, a subsequent press conference from Fuji TV led many to accuse the station of lacking both transparency and remorse. Fuji TV President Koichi Minato also acknowledged that the company knew of the incident over six months prior to the reports, but failed to disclose it publicly.
Nakai issued a statement in January saying that the “trouble” had “all resulted from my shortcomings”. Fuji TV has now reportedly hired external lawyers to investigate the scandal.