Johnny & Associates on Monday revealed a plan to establish a new company to manage its performers in an effort to start fresh after the talent agency was tainted by sexual abuse committed by its late founder, Johnny Kitagawa.
The company, which will change its name to Smile-Up, will focus on identifying the victims of alleged child sexual abuse by Kitagawa, who died in 2019, and providing them with compensation. Smile-Up will be disbanded once it completes that work.
A new, yet-to-be-named company will take on the role of talent agency.