The new firm established to manage Johnny & Associates Inc. performers unveiled its company name as Starto Entertainment Inc., in a bid to start afresh following a sex abuse scandal involving the late founder of the former male talent agency.
Japan's top male talent agency Johnny & Associates Inc. renames itself Smile-Up Inc. in a bid to distance itself from its late namesake founder Johnny Kitagawa, against whom hundreds of sexual abuse allegations have been made.
Male talent agency Johnny & Associates Inc. will begin from November paying compensation to the 325 men who claimed to have been sexually abused by its founder, but as more victims may come forward the scandal is not over.
Johnny & Associates Inc. may never recapture the influence it wielded within Japan's entertainment industry due to the scars left by the sexual abuse perpetrated over decades by its late founder, even after on Monday announcing a name change and revealing a new agency will be created.
NHK, Japan's public broadcaster, has announced that it will suspend new contracts with male talent agency Johnny & Associates Inc. until it ensures appropriate actions have been taken to address decades of sexual abuse by the agency's late founder, including adequate compensation for victims.