Former J-pop idol accuses late Japanese music mogul Johnny Kitagawa of sexual abuse

A former teen idol has come forward with a shocking allegation against the late Johnny Kitagawa, the founder and president of Johnny & Associates. Kauan Okamoto has revealed that he was among the multiple boys who were sexually abused by Kitagawa.

On Wednesday, during a press conference, theJapanese-Brazilian singer made the shocking revelation against Kitagawa, as he revealed that he abused him multiple times over a four-year period when he was 15 years old.

“I believe that almost all of the boys who went to stay at Johnny’s place were victims,” Okamoto told reporters at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan, as per The Guardian. “If you stayed there, you were unlikely to evade him. I would say 100 to 200 boys stayed there on a rotation basis during my four years at the agency.”

A day later, Kitagawa gave Okamoto10,000 yen (about US$75) without telling himany reason.

Okamoto alleged that at least 100 boys stayed at the business mogul's home and he believed all of them had been abused. While he's no plans to take legal action against the company, his only motive behind speaking out is to inspire other victims.

“I hope other victims will also come forward, all of them,'' he said during the press conference.

For the unversed, Johnny passed away in the year 2019 at the age of 87.

Reacting to the shocking allegation, Johnny & Associates said in a statement released to Japanese public broadcaster NHK, per CNN, “Since the change in management following the death of the former president in 2019, we have developed a trustworthy, highly transparent organizational structure and systems that are in line with the times.''

“The entire company will continue to work together to ensure thorough compliance without exception by management and employees, and strengthen the governance system with the cooperation of neutral experts,” the statement reads.

Kitagawa has launched and trained some of Japan's biggest male idols since the 60s and still his company remains one of Japan'smost powerful agencies. SMAP, Arashi and Kinki Kids are some of the biggest stars producedby the agency.

Over the years, several serious allegations have been labelled against Kitagawa. In the year 1999, Shukan Bunshun, a weekly magazine, shocked the entire world as they released a series of articles revealing the misconduct done by Kitagawa.

The articles were based on the interviews of the boys, who had been sexually abused by him. However, Kitagawa was never charged with a crime.