Japanese talent agency Johnny & Associates Inc. issued an apology in response to allegations that founder Johnny Kitagawa sexually abused young men represented by the firm.
The boy-band mogul shaped Japan’s pop idol industry, building a stable of groups that included Hikaru Genji, SMAP, Arashi and Sexy Zone and fueling the world’s second-biggest market for recorded music. He suffered a fatal stroke in July 2019 at age 87.
“I would like to express my deepest, deepest apologies to those who allege” abuse, Julie Keiko Fujishima, Johnny’s current chief executive officer, said in a one-minute video on the company’s website.
The apology follows public statements last month by Japanese-Brazilian singer and songwriter Kauan Okamoto, who said that Kitagawa sexually abused him as a teen, as well as multiple allegations of sexual assault over the years.
Fujishima didn’t confirm or deny the allegations. She said she wasn’t aware of Kitagawa’s actions and apologized for a corporate culture that concentrated key decisions with Kitagawa and honorary chairperson Mary Yasuko Fujishima, who died in 2021.
In the late 1990s, a Japanese newsweekly published detailed allegations of abuse by Kitagawa and later successfully defended itself against charges of libel regarding its reporting on sexual harassment. But Kitagawa’s influence never waned, fueled by his tight grip on the images of and access to his stars.
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The firm controlled artists’ interviews and endorsements. It also policed any online distribution of videos or photos, fearing damage to the brand or a dent in CD sales. In the years following his death, the company has relaxed some of those restrictions and is experimenting with live-streaming.
