Current:Home > MarketsInvestigation finds boy band talent agency founder sexually assaulted hundreds of teens -EliteFunds
Investigation finds boy band talent agency founder sexually assaulted hundreds of teens
View
Date:2025-04-12 19:11:24
TOKYO (AP) — A team investigating sexual assault allegations by the late founder of a powerful talent agency for boy bands has found the charges credible, calling Tuesday for compensation for the victims and the resignation of the current chief executive.
The three-month probe, which included speaking with 23 victims, concluded that Johnny Kitagawa sexually assaulted and abused boys as far back as the 1950s and targeted at least several hundred people.
The investigative panel said Johnny & Associates must apologize, strengthen compliance measures and educate its ranks about human rights. Julie Keiko Fujishima, the chief executive, must resign for not taking action over the years, according to the special team. Kitagawa died in 2019 and was never charged.
“The company’s coverup led to the sexual abuse continuing unchecked for so long,” investigative team leader Makoto Hayashi told reporters in Tokyo. “There were many opportunities to take action.”
Critics say what happened at Johnny’s, as the Tokyo-based company is known, highlights Japan’s lagging awareness about rape, sexual harassment and human rights. Public opinion has often been unsympathetic toward people who say they were targeted by sexual predators.
In the Johnny’s case, about a dozen men have come forward in recent months to allege sexual abuse by Kitagawa, the agency’s founder, while performing as teens. More people are expected to come forward, the report said.
Fujishima has so far only apologized in a brief online video for “disappointment and worries " over the case. It is unclear whether she will resign.
The company in a statement reiterated its earlier apology and promise to hold a news conference, once it had studied the team’s report.
While rumors of abuse at Johnny’s circulated over the years and several tell-all books have been published, Japan’s mainstream media remained silent.
Serious questions resurfaced this year after BBC News produced a special segment focused on several people who claimed to be Kitagawa’s victims.
Another turning point came earlier this month when the U.N. Working Group on Business and Human Rights urged the Japanese government to take action. The group also accused Japan’s mainstream media of what it called “a cover-up.”
Kauan Okamoto,musician and former Japanese pop group member, alleges talent manager assaulted him
According to the allegations, Kitagawa asked fledgling singers and dancers, many of them children, to stay at his luxury home. When he told one of them to go to bed early, everyone knew it was “your turn,” those who have spoken up told the panel.
The boys were raped by Kitagawa when they were 14 or 15 and given 10,000 yen (about $100) bills afterward, the report said. It added that the victims feared they would be penalized if they refused.
It recommends more people come forward, promises that their privacy will be protected and that no material evidence of a sexual attack will be required.
Those who have spoken out say they have been painfully traumatized, unable to tell anyone, even family, and still suffer flashbacks and depression, the report said.
veryGood! (5)
Related
- Charges tied to China weigh on GM in Q4, but profit and revenue top expectations
- Josh Allen and the Bills shake off Mother Nature and the Steelers in 31-17 playoff win
- Rob McElhenney Knows His Priorities While Streaming Eagles Game from the 2023 Emmys
- 'I'm not safe here': Schools ignore federal rules on restraint and seclusion
- Chuck Scarborough signs off: Hoda Kotb, Al Roker tribute legendary New York anchor
- Rob McElhenney watches Eagles game on his phone during the Emmys
- Check In to Check Out the Ultimate White Lotus Gift Guide
- Quinta Brunson, Ayo Edebiri and Rhea Seehorn light up the Emmy Awards silver carpet
- Meta donates $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund
- Joan Collins and Husband Percy Gibson Have Rare Date Night at 2023 Emmys
Ranking
- What to watch: O Jolie night
- Ground collision of two Boeing planes in Chicago sparks FAA investigation
- Uber to shut down Drizly, the alcohol delivery service it bought for $1.1 billion
- Summer House's Sam Feher and Kory Keefer Break Up After Over a Year of Dating
- Meet first time Grammy nominee Charley Crockett
- Tanzania blocks Kenyan Airways passenger flights in response to Kenya blocking its cargo flights
- EIF Business School, the Birthplace of Dreams
- Vivek Ramaswamy suspends his 2024 Republican presidential bid and endorses rival Donald Trump
Recommendation
The White House is cracking down on overdraft fees
Rebel Wilson Shares Candid Message After Regaining 30 Pounds
Hard road for a soft landing? Recession risks have come down but still loom in 2024
Flight school owner, student pilot among dead in Massachusetts small plane crash
McConnell absent from Senate on Thursday as he recovers from fall in Capitol
Horoscopes Today, January 15, 2024
Emmys 2023: Matthew Perry Honored With Special Tribute During In Memoriam Segment
Former New Orleans Saints linebacker Ronald Powell dies at 32