Japanese actress Mei Nagano recently appeared on TBS's seasonal variety show, "Live Kanshasai Spring 25," to promote her new drama, "Caster."
But the segment took a wild turn when veteran comedian "Egashira 2:50," topless and sporting women's lingerie for a gag, lunged at Nagano in her seat. It took several people to pull him back and quell the chaos. The stunt immediately ignited a firestorm online, with viewers blasting Egashira's "sexual harassment comedy" as both repulsive and unfunny.
Egashira 2:50, famous for his signature semi-nude, provocative antics, didn't stop there. He reportedly stuck out his tongue at Nagano, shouting "Be my woman!" The visibly shaken actress immediately sought refuge behind her co-star, Hiroshi Abe. But Egashira pressed on, charging into the seating area in another attempt to "attack" her, forcing Nagano to avert her eyes and retreat up a staircase to get away.
Initially, both the show's host and Hiroshi Abe tried to intervene as Egashira made his first move.
But the comedian wouldn't quit. "Egashira 2:50" continued his wild behavior, prompting Shunsuke Michieda, another co-star, to quickly abandon his seat and rush between them to try and de-escalate the increasingly chaotic situation.
A visibly shaken Mei Nagano remained hidden on the staircase, as others rushed to comfort her and help her calm down.
Because the show was live, viewers quickly noticed that after a commercial break, Nagano was no longer in her seat, replaced by other cast members.
Clips of the incident quickly went viral, igniting a massive online backlash. Netizens slammed the show's "outdated" antics as blatant sexual harassment and demanded an apology from "Egashira 2:50" to Nagano. In response, the show's replay on the streaming platform TVer has since scrubbed all footage of Egashira's controversial performance.
While "Egashira 2:50" has built his career on such outrageous comedy, many viewers found this particular "gag" utterly sickening. They vehemently rejected the notion that "disgusting" could ever be "funny," demanding an apology from the TV station and a commitment to prevent such performances in the future.
UPDATE: "Egashira 2:50" later uploaded an apology video to his personal YouTube channel. In it, he took full responsibility for the incident, explicitly stating the fault was his alone and not blaming the production team. He accepted the widespread criticism from netizens and viewers, vowing to more rigorously review his on-screen behavior moving forward.