NHK said Thursday that it will resume using TV personalities and performers from Starto Entertainment, an offshoot of the former Johnny & Associates talent agency that inherited its entertainment management business after the earlier company was split in two following a sexual abuse scandal involving its founder.
The latest decision will allow the entertainers to appear on NHK's annual year-end “Kohaku Uta Gassen” music program, which features dozens of singers and idol groups. Johnny's performers were barred from appearing in 2023 due to the scandal.
Earlier this month, TV Tokyo announced that it would begin using performers contracted with Starto Entertainment in its programs, following moves by other major broadcasters.
NHK President Nobuo Inaba said in a news conference Wednesday that the decision was based on the entertainment agency’s clear efforts to compensate Johnny Kitagawa's sexual abuse victims and to prevent a recurrence.
“In addition to the various efforts being made to compensate victims and to implement measures to prevent a recurrence, we have also been able to confirm the clear separation in business management (between Starto Entertainment and Smile-Up),” Inaba said.
On Tuesday, Smile-Up announced that they had reached compensation agreements with 510 out of 1,000 individuals who claimed to have been sexually abused. Of the remaining cases, 213 individuals will not receive compensation while the other 237 could not be located.
NHK temporarily suspended its use of performers from the agency in September 2023, saying the company, then known as Johnny & Associates, needed to show it was taking steps to provide relief to victims and other preventive measures.
The following month, the agency publicly acknowledged Kitagawa's crimes and announced their decision to rebrand as Smile-Up. The company pledged to dedicate itself to providing relief to victims abused by Kitagawa before his death in 2019, while establishing a new, separate entity — later revealed as Starto Entertainment — to manage performers.
Johnny & Associates, established in 1962, was known for launching the careers of iconic boy band groups like SMAP and Arashi. In March 2023, following on from reports years earlier, a BBC documentary focusing on allegations of sexual abuse against the late founder reignited public interest in the issue. The renewed focus ultimately led to the resignation of Julie Fujishima, Kitagawa's niece and then-president of the agency.
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