A film director who questioned the policy of the “Johnny’s Fan” office was pressured on SNS….

The movie “Analog,” starring Kazuya Ninomiya of Arashi fame and featuring actress Haru as the heroine, opened in theaters on October 6. The film is an adaptation of Beat Takeshi’s romantic novel, and is directed by Takahata Hideta, who also directed the drama “Aka Medaka” (TBS, broadcast in 2003) in which Ninomiya and Takeshi co-starred.

Before the film’s premiere, Takahata sent out a message on SNS that caused a stir and infuriated Johnny’s fans.

The trigger was a press conference held by Johnny’s s on October 2. The company explained that, in response to the sexual assault issues involving the company’s founder, Mr. Kitagawa, the current Johnny’s office would change its name to “SMILE-UP.” as of October 17, and become a company that only compensates victims. He also announced that an agent company would be established to contract with individual talents, but that the name of the company would be solicited from the public through fan clubs.

On the 3rd, Takahata announced on his X (formerly Twitter) account

‘President, can it be the same person? The new company name…isn’t that the same person in the company? Wasn’t there anyone in the company to stop them? I really thought that. I felt that the talent at the company was being pushed around by this approach. Sexual assault is a serious crime. It should be condemned. It is incomprehensible that the president is a person who admitted that he pretended to ignore it.

And the post. He was referring to the fact that the current president of Johnny’s, Noriyuki Higashiyama, will become the president of the new company. He continued,

If I posted something like this, a little while ago, I would no longer be able to work with people who belong to Johnny’s. I think I would have been dried up. I think they would have dried up. But I want to continue to work with them. So let’s change that, all of you in the media, all of you in the entertainment industry. It’s now or never.

It seems that Takahata’s comments came at a time when Johnny’s is undergoing a rebirth.