A few minutes ago, SMAP made a special live announcement on “SMAP x SMAP” to address their supposed disbandment. The group will not be disbanding and will remain under Johnny & Associates.

The show opened with a performance montage of “Sekai ni Hitotsu Dake no Hana”, with messages from fans in regards to the possible demise of the group being read by a narrator. The five members of SMAP then appeared, standing in black suits in front of a curtain.

Kimura Takuya spoke first, followed by his groupmates. He apologized, and then the other members offered their apologies for all the drama that has taken place for nearly the past week. Kimura Takuya also said that he wants to move forward as a group, in spite of what has happened. The segment was finished by a unified deep bow.

The reason for this sudden live statement on “SMAP x SMAP”, which was only announced a few hours before airing, is because Johnny & Associates wanted the public to hear what was happening with SMAP from the mouths of the members themselves.

The live statement:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvdGCtHDa5U

Source