Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani and his agent, Nez Balelo, are asking a Hawaii court to throw out a lawsuit that was filed against them last month.
The lawsuit claims Ohtani caused a real estate investor and a broker to lose their jobs on a $240 million luxury housing project on Hawaii’s Big Island.
The people who sued, developer Kevin Hayes and broker Tomoko Matsumoto, said Ohtani abused his power and got in the way of their business.
They were removed from the project by the company running the development, Kingsbarn Realty Capital.
Ohtani’s lawyers said that in 2023, Hayes and Matsumoto got permission to use Ohtani’s name and image to promote another real estate project.
But the lawyers claim they used his name without permission for their own benefit and didn’t pay Ohtani. They called it “a misuse of his likeness.”
Ohtani and his agent are saying they were the victims, not the wrongdoers.
They say Balelo only spoke up to protect Ohtani’s name and rights. The lawyers called the lawsuit “frivolous” and said the people suing are trying to distract from their own mistakes.
Kingsbarn Realty Capital also said the claims were “without merit.”
Ohtani, a three-time MVP, plays for the defending World Series champion Dodgers.
His team and agent are focused on protecting his name and image from anyone trying to use it without permission.