Former Teen Idol Alleges He Was Sexually Assaulted "15 To 20" Times As A Teenagaer By Founder Of Japanese Boyband Empire
A Japanese pop star who was a teen idol claims he was repeatedly sexually assaulted by Johnny Kitagawa, a music mogul in Japan who was responsible for creating multiple boybands.
While teen pop stars seem to have it all—fame, adoration, wealth—more and more stories are being told that reveal sexual abuse and exploitation of minors. Demi Lovato, a former Disney teen star, has alleged that she was raped while working for the media company. Another Disney child star Cole Sprouse, former star of The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, alleged that he and his brother were "heavily sexualized" at a young age, but not nearly as much as the girls on set. Old footage has even resurfaced showing Justin Bieber being sexualized and touched inappropriately by adults when he was a kid; he has never alleged abuse, but videos like this just prove that many adults are far too comfortable touching minors in this way. A former teen idol from Japan named Kauan Okamoto has alleged sexual abuse at the hands of a music mogul who was responsible for a number of boybands.
Former Teen Idol Alleges He Was Sexually Assaulted "15 to 20" Times by Founder of Japanese Boyband Empire
Johnny Kitagawa was an American-born Japanese businessman and talent manager. He was known for founding Johnny & Associates, a production agency for many popular boybands in Japan. Although he died in 2019 at the age of 87, his high legacy lives on and he remains well-known in the Japanese music industry. However, there have been many accusations in the last several years in regard to sexual assault against boys who were under the care of his talent agency.
Okamoto, 26, was selected in 2012 (at the age of 15) to join a group of talented male idols who were training at Johnny & Associates; these boys were known as Johnny's Jrs, and they had big hopes to be successful in the Japanese pop industry. He claims that at least 100 boys stayed over at Kitagawa's home at some point, and all of them were abused by the music mogul. This isn't the first time that allegations have circulated about Kitagawa. In 1999, local magazine Shukan Bunshun published anonymous accounts from six former teen idols. Kitagawa sued the magazine but lost in court, as Shukan Bunshun had sufficient evidence to publish the accusations. But Kitagawa continued to deny these accounts, and he was never criminally charged.
Okamoto says he was sexually molested by Kitagawa "15 to 20" times during the four years he was at the agency, and it all started when he was 15 years old. The first time that Kitagawa approached him, Okamoto said they were in bed, and Kitagawa performed oral sex on him. The next day, he gave Okamoto the equivalent of $75 without any reason why.
"Thanks to Johnny, my life did change," Okamoto told reporters. "But I also believe what Johnny did—performing sex acts on me when I was 15—and to the other juniors, was a bad thing. I hope everyone will come forward because it is an outrageous number of victims."
He added that he doesn't plan to ask law enforcement to conduct a posthumous investigation of Kitagawa.