It’s been another eventful week for baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani. He smashed his 42nd and 43rd homers of the season on Monday and Tuesday, but also saw his name plastered over the front pages of newspapers after it was revealed that a Hawaii real estate investor and broker had issued a lawsuit against him and his agent. They claim the pair got them fired from a $240 million luxury housing development on the Hapuna Coast that Ohtani was brought in to endorse.
The Lawsuit Against Ohtani and His Agent
According to The Associated Press (AP), the lawsuit was filed in the Hawaii Circuit Court last Friday by Kevin J. Hayes Sr. and Tomoko Matsumoto. They claim that Ohtani and his agent, Nez Balelo, used their “celebrity leverage to destabilize and ultimately dismantle” their role in the project. According to the suit, this was done “for no reason other than their own financial self-interest.” Hayes and Matsumoto were subsequently dropped from the deal by their business partner, Kingsbarn Realty Capital.
The two men reportedly reached an agreement with Ohtani and Balelo in 2023 to use the player as a celebrity endorser for a housing project in Hawaii designed to attract luxury property buyers. The cost of the properties was, on average, around $17.3 million each. According to Hayes and Matsumoto, the pair had been working on the project since 2013. In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs describe Balelo as a “disruptive force” who “inserted himself into every aspect of the relationship.”
Kingsbarn Denies the Allegations
“This case is about abuse of power,” read the lawsuit. “Defendants used threats and baseless legal claims to force a business partner to betray its contractual obligations and strip the plaintiffs of the very project they conceived and built.” It added that the defendants “must be held accountable for their actions, not shielded by fame or behind-the-scenes agents acting with impunity.” Kingsbarn called the allegations “completely frivolous and without merit.” Balelo’s agency has, thus far, declined to comment.
Large parts of the lawsuit are redacted, so it is unclear whether Ohtani had any direct involvement in the alleged behavior. This, though, is not the first time he has had to deal with off-field legal issues as a Dodgers player. In March 2024, he fired his interpreter Ippei Mizuhara after it came to light that he misappropriated $16.59 million from one of Ohtani’s accounts to repay illegal gambling debts. Earlier this year, Mizuhara was sentenced to 57 months in prison.
Ohtani Tops the NL Home Run Leaderboard
That revelation certainly didn’t have an adverse effect on Ohtani’s game last year. He was named the National League’s (NL) MVP and became the first member of MLB’s 50-50 club (50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a season), helping his side secure their second World Series in five years. That form has continued into 2025. His 43rd home run of the season on Tuesday was his fourth in as many games and put him top of the NL leaderboard. Cal Raleigh is the overall MLB leader with 45.
