ESPN releases a documentary titled "The Man Who Betrayed Shohei Ohtani," featuring an exclusive interview with Ippei Mizuhara that reveals everything.

ESPN is set to premiere a six-episode investigative documentary, "The Betrayal of Shohei Ohtani," on July 28 (US time), covering the illegal gambling and fund misappropriation case of Ippei Mizuhara, Shohei Ohtani's former interpreter. In addition to featuring the first-ever 90-minute exclusive interview with Mizuhara, the program also includes interviews with federal agents involved in the investigation and key figures from the underground betting operation, providing an in-depth reconstruction of the scandal that shocked the baseball world in both Japan and the US.

Ippei Mizuhara served as Shohei Ohtani's personal interpreter since Ohtani's move to Major League Baseball in 2018 when he joined the Los Angeles Angels. In 2024, he followed Ohtani to the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the two had built a deep trust over the years. However, after the Seoul Opening Series in March 2024, Mizuhara's illegal gambling activities were exposed, and the Dodgers immediately terminated his employment.

Prosecutors later discovered that Mizuhara had unauthorizedly withdrawn approximately $17 million from Ohtani's bank account to repay gambling debts. In February 2025, he was sentenced to 4 years and 9 months in prison for bank fraud and other charges, a case that stunned the sports world.

This latest work, part of the renowned documentary brand "30 for 30 Podcasts," will use six episodes to thoroughly trace the entire process from seamless cooperation to the breakdown of trust between Ippei Mizuhara and Shohei Ohtani. The program is titled "The Betrayal of Shohei Ohtani," meaning "the man who betrayed Shohei Ohtani."

One of the documentary's biggest highlights is Mizuhara's first-ever 90-minute exclusive interview, in which he personally recounts the events. Additionally, the program interviews Matthew Bowyer, the key figure allegedly involved in running the underground gambling operation, as well as three federal agents who participated in the investigation, piecing together the whole story from different perspectives.

According to ESPN's release schedule, the first two episodes will be released simultaneously on July 28 (US time), with subsequent episodes rolling out. The episode titles are "The Letter O," "Exclusive Interview," "Baseball Kid," "The Bookmaker," "Federal Agents," and the final chapter, "Footnote." The entire series is expected to conclude on August 11.