In a bizarre turn of events on Tuesday, one of Japan's oldest boybands has gone on record to clear up rumours that the group was splitting up.
Japan's entertainment scene was rocked last week by rumours that one of its longest-running bands, SMAP, were breaking up.
Talks of the split came about when local media outlets reported that four of its members, Masahiro Nakai, Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, Goro Inagaki and Shingo Katori were leaving their talent agency, Johnny & Associates, to join their manager Michi Ijima at his new agency. This departure would have left behind its most popular and loved member, Takuya Kimura, who shot to international fame after he endorsed Levi's and Gatsby.
During a live telecast of their weekly variety show SMAPXSMAP, all five members -- who are currently in their thirties and forties -- dressed in sombre black suits, took the stage to apologise for causing any concerns and confirmed that they were not breaking up.
Starting with Kimura, each one of the band members took turns to say a few words of apology, followed by a deep bow. At the end of the video, the group then took a united bow.
The announcement relieved many fans, including Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. During a budget meeting in the parliament's Upper House that followed SMAP's announcement, Abe was questioned on his thoughts about the news.
"The group will remain intact in response to many fans’ wishes, which is good,” said Abe. “As is the case in the world of politics, I presume there are many issues (that must be overcome) for a group to continue for many years.”
Hearing the boyband Smap from Japan are not breaking up, suddenly I feel like my 401 will rebound today when the market opens— kennyincolorado (@KennyinColorado) January 19, 2016
Glad SMAP is not breaking up anymore.— ピカ☆乙女ハート← (@picaaa) January 19, 2016
Formed in 1988, SMAP have sold more than 35 millions records and have also been credited for their role in helping diplomatic relations between Japan, China and South Korea.
Despite the general relief, SMAP's apology caused ire and confusion among fans too. Many took to Twitter to accuse SMAP's management of forcing the band to publicly apologise and noted how unwilling and uncomfortable the band looked during the telecast.
Nikkan Gendai & Tokyo Sports call the SMAP apology a public execution for the 4 members who wanted to leave. pic.twitter.com/YWPIcF9vEE— unleashthegeek (@unleashthegeek) January 19, 2016
i really wonder when and esp. How they expect smap to go back to normal after this honestly, leaves a bad taste— mamu♕LinQ (@BubbleFail) January 19, 2016
Talking about cringeworthy? SMAP's apology.— Margaret Chan (@ExKage) January 19, 2016
In case you missed SMAP’s public apology, here’s a screenshot. pic.twitter.com/Wq99nxBWd5— Jean Snow (@jeansnow) January 19, 2016
The live broadcast of SMAP's announcement took place as Twitter experienced a global outage, causing many to speculate that the band's news was the cause of it.
lol did SMAP really crash twitter today— Ｆｕｋｕｄａ Ｕ１ Ｓｈｉｌｌ (@IgnisTL) January 19, 2016
What the hell broke twitter this time? SMAP change their minds again?— Glen Malley (@glen_malley) January 19, 2016
@Kyoufu2011 smap did irreparable damage to twitter servers— Justin Epperson (@sprsk) January 19, 2016
バルスよりもSMAPの方がTwitterを陥落させたというね pic.twitter.com/RlUAHrLwBl— うっちー@通信制限まで4.5GB (@uchida_suzuki) January 18, 2016