On March 29, the BBC will air the documentary “The Shadow of a Predator”, the sequel to its 2023 Johnny Kitagawa sexual abuse documentary “Predator: The Secret Scandal of J-Pop.”
Ahead of the release of the documentary, the BBC released an article about it, reporting that Noriyuki Higashiyama, the President of SMILE-UP., believes that Kitagawa was not the only preparator at Johnny & Associates, that in fact there were two more perpetrators, and that they are still alive.
It should be noted though that these incidents were reported publicly via the report, which numbered in the dozens of pages, that the company’s Special Team to Prevent Recurrence released last year in the wake of its investigation.
Regarding the BBC article, SMILE-UP. released a statement reiterating its investigative findings of last year. The statement reads that on August 29 of last year, the Special Team to Prevent Recurrence confirmed that there were incidents of sexual misconduct perpetrated by Johnny & Associates employees besides Kitagawa. By that September, strict action, in accordance with the company’s new compliance policy, was taken.
SMILE-UP. has not provided details about these incidents in an effort to protect the privacy of those involved and to prevent slander. Furthermore, there have been no victim reports in regards to these non-Kitagawa incidents. If victims do come forward, the company will verify the claims and then provide relief.
