Two former employees at the now-defunct talent agency Johnny & Associates, whose founder had sexually assaulted performers for decades, also engaged in such abuse, Smile-Up said Thursday.
The statement from Smile-Up, which is responsible for compensating victims of Johnny Kitagawa, came after the BBC published an interview with its president, Noriyuki Higashiyama, saying he believes two former workers had also sexually abused the agency's members.
Smile-Up said the fact that other employees were involved in sexually abusing performers had already been included in an August report compiled by a third-party panel, and that it has shared information on what it knows about the two individuals with the investigation team.