Hisashi Hieda, a longtime director at Fuji Media Holdings, has stepped down as a member of the Japanese company's management advisory committee, Fuji Media President Osamu Kanemitsu said Thursday.

The move follows a firestorm that engulfed Fuji Media and its core unit, Fuji Television Network, over the broadcaster's handling of a sex scandal involving former TV star Masahiro Nakai.

Hieda, who joined the board of Fuji TV in 1983, served as executive managing adviser to both Fuji Media and Fuji TV.