Johnny & Associates on Monday revealed a plan to establish a new company called Smile-Up to manage its performers in a bid to start fresh with a separate entity from the talent agency, which has been tainted by allegations of sexual abuse by its late founder Johnny Kitagawa.
.jpg "Johnny & Associates on Monday revealed a plan to establish a new company called Smile-Up to manage its performers in a bid to start fresh with a separate entity from the talent agency, which has been tainted by allegations of sexual abuse by its late founder Johnny Kitagawa. The existing Johnny & Associates will focus on identifying the victims of alleged child sexual abuse by Kitagawa, who died in 2019, and providing them with compensation. The move comes after the agency acknowledged the abuse and apologized to the victims in a news conference on Sept. 7, following an expert panel’s findings that Kitagawa abused underage performers. Fujishima, Kitagawa’s niece, also stepped down, and was replaced with Noriyuki Higashiyama, the agency’s senior performer.")
The existing Johnny & Associates will focus on identifying the victims of alleged child sexual abuse by Kitagawa, who died in 2019, and providing them with compensation.
The move comes after the agency acknowledged the abuse and apologized to the victims in a news conference on Sept. 7, following an expert panel’s findings that Kitagawa abused underage performers. Fujishima, Kitagawa’s niece, also stepped down, and was replaced with Noriyuki Higashiyama, the agency’s senior performer.
