Press Conference held by the “Recurrence Prevention Special Team” pertaining to Johnny’s Sexual Assault Allegations

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A press Conference was held by the recommendation of the “Recurrence Prevention Special Team” in which an external expert was hired to investigate the sexual assault allegations of the late Johnny’s Jimusho president, Kitagawa Johnny (who passed away back in 2019).

The expert said that the Johnny’s sexual assault was recognized as a “fact”. At Johnny’s Office, it was recognized that many Johnny’s Jr.s were repeatedly sexually assaulted over a long period of time from the early 1970s to the mid-2010s

According to the investigative report, regarding the series of sexual assaults, “It can be evaluated that Johnny, who had absolute power, took advantage of the victim’s feelings of wanting to debut and become famous”.

“As the first step to make a fresh start, it is essential that Johnny’s office as an organization recognize that Mr. Johnny’s sexual assault is true and sincerely apologize. ”, and immediately establish a ‘victim relief system’ that provides appropriate compensation for damage recovery”.

He said that behind the problems was the harmful effects of family management, and recommended that his niece, Fujishima Julie Keiko, resign as president in order to rebuild the company.

In response to this, Johnny & Associates issued the following statement, “We have received a report on the results of an investigation by a ‘special team to prevent recurrence of external experts’ regarding the sexual assault issue of the late Kitagawa Johnny, the founder of our company. I would like to inform you that we would like to explain our future response”.

An excerpt of the Q&A:

QA excerpt

1:08:40 Why didn’t you check the media?

“I was not in a position to evaluate the responsibility of the media itself.”

1:18:29 What process did you go through to find out the facts? Does the victim include active duty people?

“We also interviewed people who are currently active, but they are not victims.”

1:22:50 Shouldn’t the government take the lead in investigating the allegations, and get involved in relieving the victims?

“We are not in a position to say that the government’s response should be this way.”

1:36:29 Some say that the testimony of the person claiming damage is ambiguous and unreliable, and that they tend to say what they said.

“We have not confirmed individual facts…We have made general findings through interviews.”

1:47:28 Was the video in which Julie said she didn’t know about the allegations was a false statement?

“We were not able to obtain interviews or materials that would allow us to recognize that Julie was aware of the sexual assault from that time on. There are.”

2:07:16 Shouldn’t the damage be the subject of an investigation? What do you think about the responsibility of former prosecutor general Hayashi himself who was not able to expose it as a criminal justice? In the case of Jimmy Saville in England, after his death, the London Metropolitan Police conducted an investigation and settled the case, but don’t you think it’s necessary in Japan as well? During our interviews, there were people who went to the police but were ignored. Shouldn’t it be investigated?

“As a former prosecutor-general, I have nothing to answer”.

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