Johnny’s program becomes “AC Japan Festival”… A serious situation begins with Sekzo’s Kento Nakajima “canceling his appearance in the name of postponement”.
TV stations, which have always been so discreet to Johnny’s, are beginning to get worried,” said a senior entertainment executive at a private key station.
A senior entertainment industry executive at a major commercial TV station said as much. The “shift away from Johnny’s” triggered by the sexual assault of the late Mr. Kitagawa is now approaching TV stations as well.
According to the results of investigations by the United Nations Human Rights Council and other organizations, the number of celebrities who have been victimized by Mr. Janney is in the hundreds. The number of times he has poisoned them is reported to be in the four digits.
Mr. Janney has already passed away and will not be criminally prosecuted, but if this issue had come to light when he was still alive, it would have been an outrageous situation. It would have shocked the international community as one of the largest human rights violation cases in the postwar period.
At a press conference held on August 7, the founding family member, Keiko Fujishima Julie, resigned as president of Johnny’s, and the new president, Noriyuki Higashiyama of Shonen-tai (boys’ band), was announced. However, Mr. Julie remained in the position of president and representative director, holding 100% of the company’s shares, let alone the name of the company.
This was said to be a measure to facilitate compensation for the victims, but it is hard to say that this satisfied the public.
What happened as a result was a review of the client company’s contracts.
The first to take the initiative was Tokio Marine & Nichido, which uses Masaki Aiba of Arashi fame in its commercials,
The company said it would not tolerate any form of harassment.
The company began to consider terminating the contract, stating that it “does not tolerate harassment in any form.
The “review dominoes” began here, and one after another, well-known companies such as Nissan Motor, Japan Airlines, Kirin, Asahi, Sapporo, Suntory, and other beverage companies, Daiichi Sankyo, Meiji, and Kagome joined in. Kose, a major cosmetics company, suggested that Johnny’s talents “move to other companies,” and Aflac Life Insurance, which employs Sho Sakurai of Arashi fame, demanded individual contracts with talents not through Johnny’s. “Japan’s leading publicly traded companies are cutting their contracts,” said one company.
Aflac Life Insurance, which features Sho Sakurai of Arashi Storm, called for individual contracts with talent not involving the Johnny’s agency. They are putting intense pressure from the outside saying, ‘You can’t keep doing this. At this point, Johnny’s’s press conference on the 7th was a disaster. We need to review governance again and hold a press conference.
To add insult to injury, the recording of “A-Studio+” (TBS), in which Nakajima Kento of “Sexy Zone” was scheduled to appear as a guest, was effectively “canceled” (the station explained that it had been “postponed”). The station explained that it was “postponed.) The program is provided by one company, Kao. Kao had appointed Nakajima as the image character for its cosmetics products, and in response to the sexual assault issue, Kao had mentioned that it was reviewing the contract.
TV programs are made up of sponsor companies. This time it was easy to understand because the program was sponsored by one company, but I think there will be more opportunities to run AC Japan’s commercials in programs with multiple sponsors in the future.
AC Japan plugs in during emergencies such as earthquakes or when sponsor companies decide ‘not to run commercials. It would be disgraceful for TV stations if they only show free AC Japan commercials,” said a person involved with a TV station.
When the Great East Japan Earthquake hit in 2011, all commercials on commercial key stations were switched to AC Japan. In 2002, eight sponsors “withdrew” from the drama “Mama ga Naiai” (NTV) starring Mana Ashida, due to protests from children’s homes, and replaced their commercials with those of AC Japan.
In order to stop this trend, the Johnny’s office has decided to pay 100% of the remuneration earned from TV programs and commercials to the talent themselves for the next one year, but to be honest, this has not been well-received.
The problem is not the flow of money, but that it is not good to do business with a talent who belongs to Johnny’s, the name of the sexual perpetrator of the century. Of course, the individual talent is innocent. But as long as the name of the company is Johnny’s and the founding family can exert a great deal of influence, the situation will continue to be difficult.
(A sports newspaper reporter) “Sponsors are not attracted to Johnny’s programs, and commercials are being replaced by AC Japan.
Such a phenomenon is likely to occur as early as the October season for dramas and new programs.
PHOTO: Kazuhiko NAKAMURA