©Courtesy of Angora
Masahiro Nakai, who is best known for being a TV personality and a former member of the boy band, SMAP, announced his retirement from the entertainment industry on Jan 23.
He made a document available on his paid membership site, “I, Masahiro Nakai, will retire from entertainment activities starting today. As for the company [Nombiri Nakai Co., Ltd.], we will close the business as soon as the remaining procedures and operations are completed, as he reported.
He added, ‘In this report, I want to let you know that I have completed all the meetings with TV stations, radio stations, and sponsors concerning the termination, dropout, cancellation, and termination of contracts, and today is the day.’ On the other hand, “We do not believe that we have fulfilled all of our responsibilities at all. I will continue to deal with various issues sincerely and in good faith. I personally take full responsibility. I am sorry that I have caused so much trouble and loss to so many people,” he apologized.
He added, ‘I want to apologize from the bottom of my heart to the other party once again. I would like to offer my apologies to everyone involved for any inconvenience caused. I apologize from the bottom of my heart once more. I am very, very sorry.’ He said goodbye to his fans.
In December last year, Nakai was reported to have had sexual trouble with a woman in her 20s. Nakai’s official website posted a statement on the 9th of this month. He admitted that there was trouble, but explained that a settlement had been reached. The statement, ‘Now that the settlement has been reached, I will be able to continue my future entertainment activities without hindrance,’ caused quite a stir.
The cancellation of regular programs one by one happened on the 22nd, with TV Asahi’s ‘Nakai Masahiro’s Doyou no kai‘ and Fuji Television’s ‘Dareka to Nakai‘ being announced one after the other, resulting in the loss of all six regular programs.
The station received a series of commercial injunctions and 75 companies were suspended as of Jan 20, after a weekly magazine reported the involvement of Fuji Television President Koichi Minato’s employees in Nakai’s female troubles.
His office’s official X account “Nobiri-Nakai Twitter” has already been deleted and “This account does not exist” is displayed. The official website also continues to be difficult to connect.