Noriyuki Higashiyama, an actor employed by Johnny & Associates, apologized on Sunday for a sexual abuse scandal involving the entertainment firm’s late founder, saying whether the name of the agency should be reconsidered.
Appearing on TV Asahi’s “Sunday LIVE!!” program, which he anchors, Higashiyama, 56, said he was “truly sorry for all the people who have had to go through their emotional distress.”
The TV program aired news about a hearing organized by the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan that was held last week in which former members of the agency talked about their alleged experiences of being sexually abused by Johnny Kitagawa when they were training as Johnny’s Junior members during their teens.