The president of a Japanese boy band company resigns and apologizes for founder’s sex abuse

By YURI KAGEYAMA
Associated Press

TOKYO (AP) — The head of a powerful Japanese talent agency resigned Thursday and made an apology punctuated by repeated, lengthy bows, nine days after an internal investigation concluded that its founder had sexually abused hundreds of young performers over decades. Julie Keiko Fujishima announced she was stepping down as president of Johnny & Associates, the talent agency founded by her late uncle, Johnny Kitagawa, and promised to contribute to a compensation fund from her own fortune. But Fujishima remains the sole owner of Johnny’s, and her replacement faces his own allegations of mistreating young performers. A group of men who accused Kitagawa of raping them as children said they were pleased the company apologized, but some had reservations.