Songwriter and producer Matsuo Kiyoshi has worked with many notable acts over the course of his career, inlcuding Ken Hirai, JUJU, CHEMISTRY, EXILE, DOUBLE, and SMAP. On July 1, he tweeted that his contract with his management company, Smile Company, was terminated prematurely on June 30 after 15 years.
Kiyoshi says that the reason for the sudden ending of his relationship with Smile Company was due to him speaking about the Johnny Kitagawa abuse scandal and company president Julie Fujishima in the media. He then said that the person who invited him to join Smile Company, Yamashita Tatsuro, agreed with the ending of Kiyoshi’s contract. Smile Company was established to manage Tatsuro early in her career, and is also home to his wife, Takeuchi Mariya.
Kosugi Shusui, President and CEO of Smile Company, responded to Kiyoshi by saying that his contract was terminated early because of his actions inside and outside of the company. He made the decision to cancel the contract based on his own judgement as head of the company, and with the consultation of Kiyoshi. He added that both sides have signed and sealed contract cancellation agreements that were drawn up by each side’s lawyers.
To combat the rumors going around in media and on the internet about this issue, Tatsuro will address it on July 9 on his TOKYO FM radio show “Yamashita Tatsuro no Rakuten Card Sunday Songbook.”
15年間在籍したスマイルカンパニーとのマネージメント契約が中途で終了になりました。
私がメディアでジャニーズ事務所と藤島ジュリー景子社長に言及したのが理由です。
私をスマイルに誘ってくださった山下達郎さんも会社方針に賛成とのこと、残念です。
今までのサポートに感謝します。バイバイ！
— 松尾潔 (@kiyoshimatsuo) July 1, 2023
