“Unbeknownst to Ohtani and his agent Nez Balelo, plaintiffs exploited Ohtani’s name and photograph to drum up traffic to a website that marketed plaintiffs’ own side project development,” wrote Ohtani and Balelo’s attorneys. “They engaged in this self-dealing without authorization, and without paying Ohtani for that use, in a selfish and wrongful effort to take advantage of their proximity to the most famous baseball player in the world.”
Attorneys for athlete Shohei Ohtani and his agent, Nez Balelo, have filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit alleging “tortious interference.”
According to The New York Times, the lawsuit was filed in August by two Hawaii-based real estate developers who claim that Ohtani and Balelo leveraged the star baseball player’s fame to manipulate a real estate project, ultimately leading both plaintiffs to lose deals that had been about a decade in the making.
However, in the recently-filed motion to dismiss, attorneys allege that the plaintiffs erred by using Ohtani’s name, image, and likeness in a “side project” development not subject to the terms of the already-agreed-upon contract.
“Unbeknownst to Ohtani and his agent Nez Balelo, plaintiffs exploited Ohtani’s name and photograph to drum up traffic to a website that marketed plaintiffs’ own side project development,” wrote Ohtani and Balelo’s attorneys. “They engaged in this self-dealing without authorization, and without paying Ohtani for that use, in a selfish and wrongful effort to take advantage of their proximity to the most famous baseball player in the world.”
Balelo, the motion states, threatened to take legal action over the allegedly unauthorized use of Ohtani’s likeness—prompting plaintiffs Kevin Hayes and Tomoko Matsumuto to pre-emptively file their own lawsuit.
However, the motion objects to Ohtani’s inclusion as a defendant, characterizing it as an “inappropriate and unprofessional attempt to try to exert maximum leverage.”
The New York Times notes that the original lawsuit, filed early last month, accuses Balelo of engineering “a calculated and unlawful scheme” to interfere with the development project. For instance, Balelo purportedly demanded concessions throughout the project’s duration, up to and including the removal of plaintiffs Hayes and Matsumoto.
Furthermore, the lawsuit asserts that both Balelo and Ohtani “exploited their celebrity leverage to destabilize and ultimately dismantle Plaintiff’s role in the project—for no other reason than their financial self-interest.”
Laura Smolowe, an attorney representing the athlete and his agent, said that the developers’ lawsuit is a poorly-constructed attempt to distract from their own failures and shortcomings.
“Nez Balelo has always prioritized Shohei Ohtani’s best interests, including protecting his name, image, and likeness from unauthorized use. This frivolous lawsuit is a desperate attempt by plaintiffs to distract from their myriad of failures and blatant misappropriation of Mr. Ohtani’s rights,” Smolowe said in a statement reprinted, in part, by The Athletic.
Sources
Ohtani’s lawyers say he was victim of likeness misuse in real estate deal, move to dismiss lawsuit
Shohei Ohtani, agent file motion to dismiss lawsuit regarding $240 million Hawaii development
Join the conversation!