Scoop! Management Staff Fiercely Confesses “Mr. Julie Was at the Venue” and “The List Was Created Based on Johnny’s Requests.”
On October 2, Johnny’s held a press conference regarding the establishment of a new company and name change. The purpose of the press conference was to restore confidence in the company as it embarks on a new journey, but the distrust of the company has only increased. The main reason for this is the existence of a “list of nominated candidate reporters and not-so-nominated reporters” reported in detail by “FRIDAY Digital” on October 5.
The list was compiled by the consulting company in charge of its operation, and the “Nominated Candidate Reporters” list included eight names from major newspapers such as the Nikkei Shimbun, TBS announcer Shohei Fujimori, and entertainment reporter Chikako Komai. On the other hand, six names were listed as “reporters not to be nominated,” including Kinshoko Mochizuki of the Tokyo Shimbun and freelance journalist Eight Suzuki. At the press conference, the Toyo Keizai reporter and Mr. Komai, who were on the “nominated candidates” list, were the first to be assigned, raising suspicions that the proceedings were being conducted in accordance with the list.
The response of the Johnny’s’s office has also been two or three times, adding to the growing distrust. However, the office has been consistent from the beginning in its stance that no office personnel were involved in the production of the list. However, suspicions have been raised about that testimony as well. A staff member who was involved in the operation of the list asserts, “The list was created based on the request of Johnny’s office.
“For the first press conference in September, there was a policy of wanting to focus mainly on apologies, but for this press conference, the request was presented in advance that ‘Johnny’s would like to set the pace. In addition, there was also a request to ‘try to keep the question-and-answer session as damage-free as possible.
However, the management decided that they could not control the reporters at the press conference, so we returned the request to them. However, the Johnny’s office responded by saying, “The moderator this time is a person who can manage the risk of the press conference well, so as long as we know who he is and where he is, we can make it work. As a result, they said, ‘Well, let’s go all the way to identifying the location of the NG reporters.
If this testimony is true, the credibility of Johnny’s side’s position that they were not involved in the creation of the NG list is greatly shaken. Furthermore, it is said that in the meeting before the press conference, there were occasions when former president Keiko Fujishima Julie (57) gave direct instructions.
At the press conference, there was a part where a letter was read on behalf of the president, but that was originally supposed to be done by Higashiyama (Noriyuki). However, Mr. Julie said, ‘If we do that, it might be read as an intention,’ and it was decided that Mr. Inohara (Yoshihiko) would read the letter.
The “List of Candidate Reporters and Reporters Not to be Nominated” is said to have originated from an instruction from Johnny’s. Based on this list, the “nomination candidates and nomination-no-reporters list” was compiled on the day of the event. Based on this list, the day of the event was carefully planned to ensure that the Q&A session would be “as damage-free as possible. A member of the management staff continues.
When someone on the list arrives at the reception desk, we get a radio call saying something like, ‘Please show us who is number one. At that time, information such as what kind of suit they are wearing and what kind of watch they are wearing is also shared. Then, an available staff member would follow the person and see where he or she would be sitting. In this way, the general positions of the people on the list were already shared before the press conference began.
Seating at the press conference was unrestricted, and it was impossible to predict which reporters would be seated where until the day of the conference. Under such circumstances, careful preparations were made behind the scenes to ensure that the locations of the reporters were known. In addition, this magazine also obtained a surprising testimony.
On October 2, Mr. Julie did not appear at the press conference, and Mr. Inohara read the letter on his behalf. In his letter, Mr. Julie explained the reason for his absence, saying, “I am not confident that I can tell you without hyperventilating. During the Q&A session, questions were asked about this as well.
However–. On the day of the press conference, Julie was reportedly present at the press conference.
I heard that Mr. Julie was at the back of the conference hall that day. There was a “no-entry zone” in the conference room, which even the management staff was not allowed to enter, and there was a notice saying, “Mr. Julie is here, so please do not enter from here. Only a very limited number of people, including some people related to Johnny’s, were allowed to enter that zone.
Even though there were health problems, the impact of Mr. Julie’s not participating was too great, as she is in a position to be accountable. If Mr. Julie was in good enough health to come to the venue, there must have been many ways for her to attend, such as by attending at different times.
The magazine sent a letter of inquiry regarding the involvement of the Johnny’s s office in the creation of the “list of nominated candidate reporters and nominated nongovernmental reporters” and the authenticity of Mr. Julie’s attendance at the press conference. However, 24 hours after the letter was sent and after the deadline for responses had passed, there was no response from the Johnny’s office.
A number of new allegations surfaced at the press conference that were intended to reignite the situation. As long as the cover-up is not improved, the day when Johnny’s will regain trust will never come.
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PHOTO： Kazuhiko NAKAMURA
