Kazuya Ninomiya of Arashi also became independent… “I got scared…” Two “big failures at the press conference” that drove the talent belonging to the company away.

At last, someone from the national idol group “Arashi” is going independent.

On October 24, member Kazuya Ninomiya announced on a website for his fan club that he had become independent from his agency, SMILE-UP. (formerly Johnny’s), as of the same day. There,

After the first press conference at the office, many things began to affect my activities, and to be honest, I became scared and anxious, and I began to think about what I would do from now on.

He explained, “I was afraid of what I was going to do. He added, “I also started to think about what I would do in the future,

I had to make my own decisions about my future, but I was running my own business, and once I calmed down and looked at things from a bird’s eye view, I decided to do it right.

He also revealed his feelings before deciding to go independent.

Johnny’s had held two press conferences in September and October, the first of which was attended by then president Keiko Fujishima and new presidents Noriyuki Higashiyama and Yoshihiko Inohara. The first press conference was attended by Keiko Fujishima, who was president at the time, and Noriyuki Higashiyama and Akihiko Inohara, who will become the new president.

The first press conference did not provide any concrete compensation details, and the fact that Mr. Julie remained as a 100% shareholder, far from the “restructuring” that had been suggested by a team of outside experts, did not win public understanding at all. The public did not understand the plan at all.

In fact, sponsor companies announced one after another that they were reviewing their commercial contracts. In fact, a number of sponsor companies announced that they were reviewing their commercial contracts, and some even suggested that they would not submit commercials for the programs in which they appeared.

At the second press conference, held in an attempt to redeem himself, Mr. Julie Fujishima was absent. Instead, he presented a letter in which he confessed his “feud” with his mother, Mary Kitagawa, and also went into some detail, including the division of the company into two parts: one specializing in compensation for the victims and the other as an agent for the talent…. He also showed a letter of confession.

Compared to the first press conference, I think the content of the letter was generally received favorably. In other words, the content of the first press conference was more favorable than the first one. In other words, the content of the first press conference was more concrete in terms of the future of Johnny’s, including compensation for the victims and the “agent” contract with the talent. However, the “list of ‘NG’ nominees” that was released after the press conference destroyed all of that, didn’t it?

The Johnny’s office has always been known for its “pressure” on the mass media. The revelation of the “NG list” came just as the new president, Higashiyama, was saying that he would emphasize “dialogue” with the mass media.

As Mr. Ninomiya honestly said, “I was scared and anxious. As one would expect, after such a series of blunders at the press conference, it is not surprising that the talents began to wonder, “Can we trust this company to do what they say they will do? It is no wonder that the talents were wondering, “Can we trust this place?

There are many things that an office must do to protect its talents, such as countermeasures against scandals and anti-company measures, and fan service. It is understandable that Mr. Ninomiya is worried about the new Johnny’s.” (A source in the entertainment industry)

The “fiasco” press conference has not only caused the victims and sponsors to lose confidence in the company, but also in the talent who belong to it. It seems that the loss to Johnny’s was too great.