Johnny & Associates is considering changing its name amid growing calls that say such a move is necessary for the company to start afresh.
In the weeks since the talent agency publicly acknowledged that its late founder, Johnny Kitagawa, had sexually abused the company’s underage celebrities, companies began to announce they would cancel promotion contracts with the firm’s performers for their commercials.
The agency's decision during a news conference on Sept. 7 to retain the company name — despite its association with an alleged sexual predator — drew a lot of public criticism.