Nintendo joins Japanese companies in pulling advertising after sex scandal engulfs TV channel

Donkey Kong commercials off-air.

Nintendo has become the latest company to pull its advertising from a major Japanese broadcaster, after reports of a sex scandal involving the former frontman of a popular boyband and a female employee.

The Switch 2 maker is currently in the midst of an advertising campaign for Donkey Kong Country Returns HD, and had been subject to calls from fans to join a growing boycott of the high-profile Tokyo-based Fuji Television, Nikkei reports (via Automaton).

Fuji TV has been accused of setting up a June 2023 meeting under false pretenses between an unnamed female employee and Masahiro Nakai, a prominent actor and former lead of boyband SMAP.

It is alleged that Fuji TV falsely told its employee that she would meet Nakai at a company dinner alongside other attendees. In reality, the female presenter found herself meeting Nakai alone, and she was sexually assaulted.

According to Japanese newspaper reports, Nakai subsequently paid the woman 90m yen (around £470k) in an out of court settlement, which became public knowledge last month. Nakai has since issued an acknowledgement of "shortcomings".

For its part, Fuji TV has denied it deliberately set up the meeting, and begun an internal investigation to address concerns of a culture where male celebrities were given access to its female employees.

The channel will now replace regular TV advertising with public service announcements from non-profit organisations.