Johnny’s begins contacting 35 people who have confirmed the facts
The remaining victims are also being verified… Compensation after agreement
SMILE-UP (formerly Johnny’s), a large Japanese entertainment company, is providing compensation to victims over the sexual exploitation issue of its founder and former president, the late Johnny Kitagawa (喜多川, died in 2019). We are moving to do this. Actual compensation is expected to begin this month.
According to the Asahi Shimbun and Yomiuri Shimbun on the 23rd, Smile Up announced that the Victim Relief Committee (hereinafter referred to as the Relief Committee) established by the company the day before had begun contacting 35 people who had confirmed the facts of the damage regarding compensation details.
As of the 20th, a total of 834 victims have contacted the relief committee for compensation. Smile Up announced that listening to them and confirming the facts are in progress. The scope of compensation is expected to expand further.
Smile Up plans to make payments as soon as an agreement is reached on the compensation details. According to Yomiuri, Smile Up explained that “payments will begin in November” regarding compensation for damages to victims.
The amount of compensation is set in consideration of circumstances such as disability in life and aftereffects depending on the degree of damage.
Smile Up’s position is that it will not announce the compensation amount and recipients because it is related to personal information.
However, the ‘Johnny’s Sexual Harassment Problems Association (hereinafter referred to as the parties’ group)’, which consists of victims who were affiliated with Johnny’s, is demanding that specific standards for calculating compensation be announced.
Junya Hiramoto (平本淳也, 57), the representative of the parties’ group, said that he “evaluates (positively) that the process for compensation is progressing,” but that he is receiving counseling from some victims who say they are “not eligible for relief.” He urged, “Victims must be provided relief without discrimination.”
Regarding the fact that compensation targets are limited to those affiliated with Johnny’s entertainers and trainees and active entertainers, and those not affiliated with the office are excluded from compensation, Hiramoto said, “Aren’t you failing to face the seriousness of the damage? “Please listen to the voices of each and every victim and provide them with acceptable compensation,” he said.
It was revealed that Johnny Kitazawa, who died in July 2019, committed sexual exploitation, including sexual harassment and sexual assault, against Johnny’s Jr., a celebrity and trainee affiliated with Johnny’s, which he founded.
As victims continued to expose the incident, the UN Human Rights Council’s ‘Business and Human Rights’ Working Group visited Japan on July 24th. The Human Rights Council announced the results of an investigation last June, saying, “We have uncovered deeply concerning suspicions that hundreds of talent at the (Johnny’s) office are subject to sexual exploitation and abuse.”
Accordingly, Johnny admitted to sexual exploitation of Johnny Kitazawa for the first time last September. They changed their company name to Smile Up and announced that they would compensate for the damage.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.