More Details Emerge On Shohei Ohtani Hawaii Real Estate Lawsuit

News broke earlier this week that Shohei Ohtani and his agent, Nez Balelo had been named in a lawsuit regarding a real estate development in Hawaii.

The Los Angeles Dodgers superstar reportedly purchased a house in the development, part of the Mauna Kea Resort property, as part of a promotion agreed to between him, his agent, and the Plaintiffs. Those Plaintiffs, Kevin J. Hayes and Tomoko Matsumoto, alleged that Ohtani and Balelo then made a series of demands and pushed them out of the project by going to its financial backers.

"Balelo and Otani (redaction spelling in the lawsuit), who were brought into the venture solely for Otani’s promotional and branding value, exploited their celebrity leverage to destabilize and ultimately dismantle Plaintiffs’ role in the project — for no reason other than their own financial self-interest," the lawsuit reads.

RELATED: Shohei Ohtani, Agent Sued For Allegedly Sabotaging $240 Million In Real Estate Deal

As usual, though, a number of new details have emerged giving more clarification into the allegations, Ohtani's involvement in the development, and whether the suit was justified.

LOS ANGELES - Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers scores off a three-run home run against the San Francisco Giants at Dodger Stadium on June 15, 2025. (Photo by Gene Wang/Getty Images)

Ohtani Had Little To Do With Real Estate Issue, New Report Confirms

The Athletic is out with some more background on the Ohtani report, which seems to explain that Ohtani had little to do with the development, and that the Plaintiffs aren't being entirely forthcoming about their "behavior."

"This is just a very standard business dispute," a source told The Athletic. "It’s sad that someone would unfairly attack innocent parties as a way of distracting from their own bad behavior."

The financial company backing the development also backed Ohtani and his agent.

"The allegations against Shohei Ohtani and Nez Balelo are completely frivolous and without merit," said a spokesperson for Kingsbarn Realty Capital. "Kingsbarn takes full responsibility for its actions regarding Kevin Hayes and for removing Tomoko Matsumoto as the project’s broker. The Mauna Kea project is world class, and we look forward to welcoming our final group."

The only person that the Plaintiffs actually worked with, per their lawyer, Josh Schiller, was Ohtani's agent Nez Balelo. Schiller also said he wasn't aware if Ohtani had any knowledge of Balelo's alleged behavior.

"The agent was doing business on his behalf, so he’s responsible for the agent ultimately," Schiller told The Athletic.

So Ohtani likely had little-to-no idea what was happening with the development, Balelo made whatever demands he thought were appropriate, and now the two individuals that were removed from the project are not happy about it. That's far from the "controversy" many have described it, in an attempt to discredit Ohtani. As usual.