Hawaii real estate investor denies improper use of Shohei Ohtani's likeness
HONOLULU -- Lawyers for a Hawaii real estate investor and broker who sued Shohei Ohtani and his agent denied any improper use of the star's likeness for a development project and alleged the agent was trying to deflect blame for cost overruns at the player's home.Ohtani and Nez Balelo of CAA Baseball were sued Aug.8 in Hawaii Circuit Court for the First Circuit by developer Kevin J.
Hayes Sr., real estate broker Tomoko Matsumoto, West Point Investment Corp.and Hapuna Estates Property Owners.
They accused Ohtani and Balelo of “abuse of power” that allegedly resulted in tortious interference and unjust enrichment impacting a $240 million luxury housing development on the Big Island’s coveted Hapuna Coast.Hayes and Matsumoto had been dropped from the development deal by Kingsbarn Realty Capital, the joint venture’s majority owner.The amended complaint filed Tuesday added Creative Artists Agency and CAA Sports as defendants."Balelo and CAA sought to deflect blame by scapegoating Hayes for the cost overruns on Otani’s home — overruns caused entirely by defendants’ own decisions,” the complaint said.“The allegations as we clarified them make very clear that there was never a breach of the endorsement agreement, the video that was posted on the website promoting specifically this project was sent to Balelo and CAA and another adviser to Ohtani, Mark Daulton, and they were aware of it and never objected to it,” said Josh Schiller, a lawyer for Hayes and the suing entities.In a motion to dismiss filed Sept.
14, attorneys for Ohtani and Balelo said “plaintiffs exploited Ohtani’s name and photograph to drum up traffic to a website that marketed plaintiffs’ own side project development.”Popular ReadsThe US government has shut down.Here's what to knowOct 1, 12:01 AMGovernment shutdown updates: Vance says he doesn't think shutdown will last longOct 1, 5:24 PMSniper opens fire on Dallas ICE facility, killing 1 detainee, wounding 2: DHSSep 24, 6:39 P...