Despite the fact that he said he would never pressure anyone… the “pressure” the media received after Johnny’s’s press conference.
All the names of Johnny’s will disappear.”
On October 2, at 2:00 p.m., Johnny’s held a press conference at a hotel in Tokyo in response to the sexual assault issue by Mr. Kitagawa. The conference was attended by Representative Director and President Noriyuki Higashiyama (57), President and CEO of Johnny’s Island Yoshihiko Inohara (47), legal counsel Yutaka Kimeda (56), and Chief Compliance Officer Masayuki Yamada. Former president Keiko Fujishima Julie (57) was not present.
At the beginning of the meeting, Higashiyama apologized again for the series of problems and began his “vision for a fresh start at Johnny’s” by saying.
In order to show our determination to completely part ways with Mr. Kitagawa, we will change our company name to “SMILE-UP.” (Smile-Up.) as of October 17. I know that some people may feel uncomfortable with the word “smile,” but we believe that it is the social responsibility of the “SMILE-UP.” company to first provide support and compensation to those who have suffered as quickly as possible.
As for the former Johnny’s, the company will be closed down after completing compensation for the victims. The management and development of talents will be handled by a newly established company (the name of which will be decided through public solicitation by the fan club).
At the press conference held on September 7 to announce the appointment of the new president, Higashiyama said, “We are not thinking of changing the name of the company, Johnny’s.” Less than a month later, he said, “We are not thinking of changing the name of the company, Johnny’s. Less than a month after this statement, the company name was suddenly changed.
At the press conference, Inohara read a letter written by Julie, who was not present, on behalf of Higashiyama. In his letter, Mr. Julie mentioned that his uncle, Mr. Kitagawa Janney, and his mother, Mary, held absolute power. She would get mad and beat me to death if I even slightly disagreed with her. She also revealed that she had been diagnosed with panic disorder in the past, but the assembled reporters showed their disbelief, saying, ” You have to be here today.……“ ” I had a question I wanted to ask Ms. Julie. …… The press conference was attended by about 300 reporters.
About 300 members of the media gathered for the press conference, but it was not only the four speakers who were the center of attention. Some reporters relentlessly pursued Higashiyama, breaking the rule that anyone with a question must raise his or her hand and each person is allowed to ask only one question. This rule-less behavior caused a furor at the press conference. Entertainment reporters and cameramen responded with comments such as, ” Shut up already! The moderator should be in charge! and “The moderator needs to get on with it!
