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.