The Japanese company that used to be the Johnny & Associates talent agency says it has founded a new company to take over management of its fan club.
Smile-Up. made the announcement on Wednesday.
The agency’s founder, Johnny Kitagawa, allegedly sexually abused hundreds of talents and other young people. He died in 2019.
The agency said on Wednesday it has split the operation of managing fan clubs for the talents who belong to Starto Entertainment, which was established to handle talent management. The fan club management business was taken over by a newly-founded company named Family Club.
The new firm received registration information from Smile-Up. and will continue providing the same service as before.
Smile-Up. also said it will hold no stake in the new firm.
Last year, the company set up a committee of lawyers to accept reports of sex abuse from alleged victims. The firm said it had received reports from 999 people by the end of September.
The firm also said it had proposed compensation amounts to 524 people after confirming sexual abuse.
Of those, 504 reportedly agreed to the company’s proposals and compensation has been paid to 498. But the firm reportedly notified 212 people that no compensation would be made, citing reasons such as the inability to confirm whether they had belonged to the agency.
Smile-Up. said the number of reports of sexual abuse per month has significantly declined. The firm added it hopes compensation for other victims will be completed soon, and it will continue its utmost efforts until the last one is compensated.