Latest news with #Mizuhara
Newsweek
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Newsweek
Shohei Ohtani/Ippei Mizuhara Scandal Closer to Becoming Scripted Series
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. The gambling scandal that threatened to disrupt Shohei Ohtani's historic 2024 season before it could even begin is close to becoming a scripted series. Lionsgate TV chairman Kevin Beggs spoke about the previously announced series focused on the scandal surrounding former interpreter Ippei Mizuhara in a Q&A with The Ankler's Lesley Goldberg that published Wednesday. More news: Dodgers Promote Top Prospect, Cut Veteran in Shocking Move "A year ago, Lionsgate TV announced it was developing a TV show about the Shohei Ohtani gambling scandal involving his former interpreter," Goldberg said. "He's easily among the biggest sports stars in the world. Has it sold yet?" Ippei Mizuhara departs federal court after his arraignment in Los Angeles, California, on May 14, 2024. Ippei Mizuhara departs federal court after his arraignment in Los Angeles, California, on May 14, 2024. Frederic J. Brown / AFP via Getty Images "It has sold," Beggs said. "Can't say to whom because we're still negotiating the deal. But the momentum around it just grew and the auspices are fantastic. It's bananas how big he is. "When we can announce, we will, and we can't wait to get started on writing it and really diving in — we had a ton of research done; all of it is wild," Beggs continued. "Most people don't even know the full story. And there's probably different opinions about the truth, which is never a bad thing for this kind of show. But we are super excited about it, glad that we landed a partner." More news: Former Cardinals, Dodgers Gold Glove Winner Announces Retirement Ohtani signed a 10-year, $700 million contract with the Dodgers in December 2023. The Dodgers at the time hired Mizuhara, Ohtani's interpreter for the previous six seasons with the Angels. Unbeknownst to Ohtani, Mizuhara had gained access to one of Ohtani's bank accounts years earlier. He used that access to rack up and pay down millions in gambling debts. The Dodgers fired Mizuhara in March 2024, and he confessed about his theft to Ohtani after their first game of the regular season. More news: Baseball Team Sues Disney For Trademark Infringement In February, a judge sentenced Mizuhara to 57 months in prison, and to pay $16,975,010 in restitution to Ohtani and $1,149,400 in restitution to the IRS. "It was very obvious (Mizuhara) was stealing money and not asking Ohtani for permission," bookmaker Mathew Bowyer told the New York Post in February. More news: Dodgers' Two-Time World Series Champion Passes Away Undeterred, Ohtani captured the National League MVP award in his first season in Los Angeles. He became the first player in MLB history to rack up 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in the same season. In October 2024, the Dodgers defeated the New York Yankees to win the World Series. For more MLB news, visit Newsweek Sports.
The Mainichi
06-05-2025
- Sport
- The Mainichi
News in Easy English: MLB star Shohei Ohtani appears most in new school textbooks
TOKYO -- Famous Major League Baseball player Shohei Ohtani is in many new school textbooks. The textbooks will be for first-year high school students from the 2026 school year. Textbooks sometimes use famous people to make learning easy and interesting for students. But textbook publishers must be careful. If a famous person has problems or scandals, the companies must change the textbooks. Ohtani is in 12 new textbooks. He appears in textbooks for four different classes in two school subjects. For example, in one "English Communication I" textbook, students can practice English using Ohtani's goal-setting chart. Other famous athletes, like Haruka Kitaguchi (javelin throw), Hina Hayata (table tennis), and Tokito Oda (wheelchair tennis), are also in new textbooks. Books teaching Japanese language have songs and works by music artists and TV stars, too. Examples are Gen Hoshino and Neru Nagahama. One textbook from Taishukan Publishing first included Ippei Mizuhara, who helped Ohtani with English, in an English lesson. But Mizuhara had a gambling scandal, so Taishukan Publishing changed that part of the textbook. It now uses a story about a Japanese-Canadian baseball team from before World War II. The education ministry said Mizuhara's scandal made the lesson "difficult" to use. Another textbook for junior high school also had to change after Mizuhara's scandal. A different textbook with a picture of entertainer Fuwa-chan also took her out after she wrote a bad thing about a comedian on social media. Textbook companies say choosing famous people is very difficult. A worker at a textbook company said, "We always think about scandals when we decide the people in our textbooks. We can only check online. We just hope that people don't have scandals in the four years until we make textbooks again." Vocabulary celebrity: a famous person (example: singer, actor, or athlete) athlete: a person who plays sports scandal: a big problem about someone's actions, usually in news or on the internet gambling: playing games for money -- can be bad or against the rules entertainer: a person who sings, acts, or makes jokes to make people happy publisher: a company that makes books or textbooks
The Mainichi
27-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Mainichi
Shohei Ohtani tops Japan school textbook appearances as celebrity scandals worry publishers
TOKYO -- Major League Baseball star Shohei Ohtani has emerged as the most featured celebrity in textbooks that have passed education ministry screening for use primarily by first-year high school students from the 2026 academic year. Textbooks have adopted celebrities to help familiarize students with the content, but their selection is a source of concern for publishers, as corrections need to be made if those celebrities become embroiled in scandals. Ohtani appears in 12 textbooks for four courses across two subjects. In "English Communication I" published by Daiichi Gakushusha Corp., Ohtani's nine-by-nine goal achievement sheet was incorporated for English learning. Many other celebrities featured in textbooks are athletes, including javelin thrower Haruka Kitaguchi, table tennis player Hina Hayata and wheelchair tennis player Tokito Oda. In the modern Japanese language textbook "Gendai no Kokugo," works by musicians and entertainers, such as Gen Hoshino and Neru Nagahama, were also included. Taishukan Publishing Co. initially introduced Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani's former interpreter, in a learning unit for "English Communication I." However, the portion was entirely replaced with a story of a pre-World War II baseball team comprising Japanese Canadians due to Mizuhara's involvement in a gambling scandal, with a screening comment saying, "It could disrupt learning." The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology explained that since he had been charged in connection with the scandal, the learning envisaged through the material had become difficult. A junior high school textbook mentioning Mizuhara that had passed the 2023 academic year's screening process was also partially replaced after the gambling scandal surfaced. While a textbook that carried a photo of personality Fuwa-chan passed the 2023 academic year's screening, it was deleted after she made an inappropriate post on social media about a comedian. Publishers say the task of picking celebrities to be featured in their textbooks is "challenging." One representative of a textbook company revealed, "At our editorial meetings, we always discuss whether there are any scandals about people featured in our textbooks. As a private company, the best we can do is to check online whether there are strange rumors about them, so we just keep our fingers crossed that they will go scandal-free over the four years until the next screening."
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Baseball star Shohei Ohtani's ex-interpreter has prison start postponed
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The former interpreter for baseball star Shohei Ohtani who was supposed to begin his nearly five-year prison term on Monday, has had his surrender date postponed, according to federal prosecutors. The reason for the change and Ippei Mizuhara 's new surrender date are under seal, Justice Department spokesperson Ciaran McEvoy said Monday. Mizuhara was sentenced in federal court in Santa Ana last month to four years and nine months for bank and tax fraud after he stole nearly $17 million from the Los Angeles Dodgers player's bank account. He was supposed to surrender to authorities by Monday. Mizuhara has pleaded guilty to bank and tax fraud, and he has apologized to Ohtani, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the government and his family in court. His lawyer did not immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press requesting comment. As an interpreter for arguably the world's most famous baseball player, he was supposed to bridge the gap between the Japanese athlete and his English-speaking teammates and fans. But behind the scenes, authorities said Mizuhara had started accessing Ohtani's account beginning in 2021 and changed its security protocols so he could impersonate Ohtani to authorize wire transfers. He has acknowledged using the money to cover his growing gambling bets and debts with an illegal bookmaker, in addition to $325,000 worth of baseball cards and his own dental bills. Mizuhara had also been ordered to pay $18 million in restitution, with nearly $17 million going to Ohtani and the remainder to the IRS. He was sentenced to three years' supervised release on top of the prison sentence. Inside baseball, Mizuhara stood by Ohtani's side for many of the athlete's career highlights, from serving as his catcher during the Home Run Derby at the 2021 All-Star Game, to being there for his two American League MVP wins and his record-shattering $700 million, 10-year deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Off the field, Mizuhara was Ohtani's friend and confidant. He famously resigned from the Los Angeles Angels during the 2021 MLB lockout so he could keep speaking to Ohtani, and he was rehired after a deal was struck. This case has stoked an international media frenzy, and stemmed from a broader probe into illegal sports bookmaking organizations in Southern California and the laundering of proceeds through casinos in Las Vegas. The Associated Press
Los Angeles Times
25-03-2025
- Sport
- Los Angeles Times
Shohei Ohtani's former interpreter has his prison start postponed
The former interpreter for Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani who was supposed to begin his nearly five-year prison term Monday, has had his surrender date postponed, according to federal prosecutors. The reason for the change and Ippei Mizuhara's new surrender date are under seal, Justice Department spokesperson Ciaran McEvoy said Monday. Mizuhara was sentenced in federal court in Santa Ana last month to four years and nine months for bank and tax fraud after he stole nearly $17 million from the Dodgers player's bank account. He was supposed to surrender to authorities by Monday. Mizuhara has pleaded guilty to bank and tax fraud, and he has apologized to Ohtani, the Dodgers, the government and his family in court. His lawyer did not immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press requesting comment. As an interpreter for arguably the world's most famous baseball player, he was supposed to bridge the gap between the Japanese athlete and his English-speaking teammates and fans. But behind the scenes, authorities said Mizuhara had started accessing Ohtani's account beginning in 2021 and changed its security protocols so he could impersonate Ohtani to authorize wire transfers. He has acknowledged using the money to cover his growing gambling bets and debts with an illegal bookmaker, in addition to $325,000 worth of baseball cards and his own dental bills. Mizuhara had also been ordered to pay $18 million in restitution, with nearly $17 million going to Ohtani and the remainder to the IRS. He was sentenced to three years' supervised release on top of the prison sentence. Inside baseball, Mizuhara stood by Ohtani's side for many of the athlete's career highlights, from serving as his catcher during the Home Run Derby at the 2021 All-Star Game, to being there for his two American League MVP wins and his record-shattering $700 million, 10-year deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Off the field, Mizuhara was Ohtani's friend and confidant. He famously resigned from the Los Angeles Angels during the 2021 MLB lockout so he could keep speaking to Ohtani, and he was rehired after a deal was struck. This case has stoked an international media frenzy, and stemmed from a broader probe into illegal sports bookmaking organizations in Southern California and the laundering of proceeds through casinos in Las Vegas.
