Japanese talent agency Johnny & Associates, engulfed in one of the largest sexual abuse scandals of the post-#MeToo era, said at a press conference in Tokyo on Monday it would change its name and split into two companies.
The existing company will be renamed Smile-Up and tasked exclusively with providing compensation to the hundreds of sexual abuse victims of late company founder Johnny Kitagawa, who died in July 2019 at age 87. A new, as-yet-unnamed entity will be established to manage the talent agency’s current roster of performers. The company said it will ask its fan club members to come up with the name for the new agency.
The move comes after years of cover-ups and denials by Johnny & Associates and amid mounting pressure within Japan and globally for a reckoning.
An external investigative committee set up by the agency says it had received reports of abuse from 478 of Kitagawa’s victims as of Sept.
The existing company will be renamed Smile-Up and tasked exclusively with providing compensation to the hundreds of sexual abuse victims of late company founder Johnny Kitagawa, who died in July 2019 at age 87. A new, as-yet-unnamed entity will be established to manage the talent agency’s current roster of performers. The company said it will ask its fan club members to come up with the name for the new agency.
The move comes after years of cover-ups and denials by Johnny & Associates and amid mounting pressure within Japan and globally for a reckoning.
An external investigative committee set up by the agency says it had received reports of abuse from 478 of Kitagawa’s victims as of Sept.
- 10/3/2023
- by Patrick Brzeski
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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