Lionsgate Developing TV Series On Shohei Ohtani Interpreter Scandal
The turnaround on a television series is apparently getting faster.
Lionsgate is working on a story that's just a month and a half old: the sports betting scandal involving Shohei Ohtani's former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara. Amazing how quickly that happened.
To be fair to Lionsgate, the story has had an incredible number of twists and turns over such a short time period. Initially, Mizuhara essentially dictated the public response, telling ESPN and Ohtani's representatives that he had amassed massive gambling debts that Ohtani agreed to pay off.
That story changed within just a few hours, with Mizuhara admitting Ohtani had no knowledge of the gambling debts or that Mizuhara had ever gambled on sports at all. Understandably, that disconnect created doubt and uncertainty around Ohtani's innocence and what he knew, and when.
But every release of information afterward confirmed that Ohtani was a victim of massive theft. After learning what was happening after one of the South Korea series games, Ippei was fired and a consistent version of events unfolded.
And those events were certainly dramatic enough to warrant the television treatment.
"With a strong track record of creating daring, boundary-pushing series, Lionsgate Television is the perfect partner to bring this unbelievable story to the screen," said producer Scott Delman. "In addition, Albert’s extensive sports journalism background will enable us to connect the dots to make sense of the startling turn of events we’ve seen play out on the world stage."
"This is major league baseball’s biggest sports gambling scandal since Pete Rose – and at its center is its biggest star, one that MLB has hitched its wagon on," said Albert Chen, another attached producer. "We’ll get to the heart of the story – a story of trust, betrayal and the trappings of wealth and fame."
This picture taken on March 16, 2024 shows Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani (R) and his interpreter Ippei Mizuhara (L) attending a press conference at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul ahead of the 2024 MLB Seoul Series baseball game between Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres. (Photo by Jung Yeon-je / AFP) (Photo by JUNG YEON-JE/AFP via Getty Images)
Ohtani Interpreter Pleads Guilty To Massive Bank Fraud
Even after Ohtani's explanation was made public, questions remained. Namely: how did Mizuhara access his bank account, complete wire transfers, or get lines of credit from a bookie on his interpreter salary?
Ohtani's camp also said they'd refer the matter to authorities, raising the stakes on whether or not he's telling the truth. Initially, some media personalities even doubted that there'd even been a case opened, suggesting Mizuhara was a fall guy.
Not exactly.
On Wednesday, the Justice Department announced that Mizuhara had pled guilty to bank fraud covering nearly $17 million in theft, as well as filing a false tax return. And the announcement contained even more details that provide fodder for the dramatic series reenactment.
READ: Ippei Mizuhara Pleads Guilty To Bank Fraud, $17M Theft From Shohei Ohtani
More than 20 times, Mizuhara impersonated Ohtani on the phone with bank officials to authorize wire transfers. He pocketed $60,000 Ohtani had given him for dental work, purchased baseball cards with Ohtani's money to resell for his personal profit.
Even text messages showed Mizuhara admitting to his bookie that he'd stolen from Ohtani.
There's plenty there to dramatize. And all the while, Ohtani's been the best player in baseball, somehow even improving from his previous results.
For those who have worked for or been around extremely wealthy people, the story wasn't surprising. And now the larger, non-sports fan world will get a chance to learn more about it.