The ‘Johnny & Associates’ expertise company pays out claims to sexual abuse victims, it mentioned on Monday
At least 325 individuals are searching for compensation over alleged sexual abuse by the deceased Japanese expertise agent Johnny Kitagawa, his firm mentioned on Monday. The claims come weeks after an unbiased inquiry concluded that the music mogul had sexually assaulted a whole lot of boys and younger males all through a six-decade profession.
The expertise company, Johnny & Associates, mentioned that 478 individuals had contacted a web site set as much as handle alleged victims of Kitagawa, 325 of whom expressed a need to obtain monetary compensation. It added that 150 of those have been former skills that had been represented by the corporate.
The company will even rename itself ‘Smile Up’, a newly-formed entity whose sole job can be to establish and compensate Kitagawa’s victims, its present president, Noriyuki Higashiyama, introduced throughout a televised press convention.
“We will disband Johnny & Associates and face the victims in a sincere manner,” Higashiyama, a former actor and singer, mentioned. “The new company will create a new future with its fans.” He added that compensation can be decided primarily based on every particular person sufferer’s grievance.
A brand new, separate firm can be established to handle expertise already on the company’s books.
Higashiyama, who changed Kitagawa’s niece, Julie Fujishima, as chief government earlier this 12 months, has additionally been accused of sexual misconduct, however denied the allegations on Monday. “I have never sexually harassed anyone,” he mentioned. “Some people may have felt I was power-harassing them, but it was 35-40 years ago, and I probably wouldn’t have been able to understand what sexual abuse is.”
The rebranding of Johnny & Associates is being interpreted as a transfer to win again assist from each the general public and high-profile sponsors. The company was dropped from partnerships with Nissan, Asahi, and Suntory final month following the inquiry.
The scandal has drawn vital media consideration in Japan, and has been in comparison with related circumstances involving film producer Harvey Weinstein within the US and radio broadcaster Jimmy Savile within the UK.
American-born Japanese businessman Kitagawa, who died in July 2019 on the age of 87, was for years considered as one of many nation’s richest and most influential media figures. He was the inventive power behind quite a few J-pop bands however confronted quite a few allegations of sexual impropriety – which he persistently denied – earlier than his dying.