For the 33rd annual ESPY Awards, hosted by comedian Shane Gillis, the biggest sports stars gathered at the Dolby Theatre on July 16. The night promised to honor the year’s most spectacular athletic feats. And among the legends, Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman was there, a nominee for Best MLB Player that came after an epic World Series MVP display. He was accompanied by icons like Diana Taurasi and Simone Biles.

Gillis soon took the show in a more provocative direction. He turned to Freeman’s teammate, Shohei Ohtani, who was not there. Gillis delivered a sharp, multi-part joke. “Shohei Ohtani couldn’t make it tonight. Man, I hope his interpreter didn’t bet that he was going to be here.” And that seemed to come around with an awkward smile from Freeman.

But Gillis didn’t stop praising the superstar’s legendary abilities. “Shohei is a once-in-a-generation talent,” which ended with his final punchline. He called Ohtani a “pitcher, hitter, and bookie,” drawing a mix of gasps and laughter from the room.

The Ohtani joke was only the beginning of an all-out comedic assault night. Gillis took shots at former Patriots coach Bill Belichick’s relationship with his 24-year-old girlfriend. The comedian addressed the men in the room, noting, “Maybe if you guys won six Super Bowls you wouldn’t be sitting next to a fat ugly dog wife.” That line earned an audible gasp from the crowd, then Gillis quipped, “That didn’t work all week.”

Gillis kept going. He turned his target on the WNBA and its stars. Shane Gillis joked that when Caitlin Clark retires, she can work at a Waffle House. This would allow her to “continue doing what she loves most—fist-fighting Black women.” He even created a fake player, “Britney Hicks” (actually, his friend’s wife) to prove that the audience didn’t know the league. When the crowd applauded for the non-existent All-Star, he shot back. “I knew none of you knew WNBA players. That’s crazy, you clapped for that.” And the jabs continued…

After congratulating Travis Hunter, he added a dark twist. He said winning the Heisman is something “they can never take away from you. Unless you kill your wife and a waiter.”

The satirical comments also managed to bring politics into the mix with a pointed jab at Donald Trump. He said the president also wanted to hold a UFC fight at the White House. Gillis added, “The last time he staged a fight in DC, Mike Pence almost died.”

To close his set, he channeled his hero, the late Norm Macdonald.

While Shane Gillis’s jokes played on public perception and controversy for laughs, the Ohtani scandal triggered some emotions.

The real story of Shohei Ohtani: A timeline of betrayal and theft

The scandal dates back to 2018. The star’s longtime interpreter and friend, Ippei Mizuhara, assisted Ohtani in opening a bank account in Arizona. This account, holding Ohtani’s MLB salary, would later become the source of a massive theft. In 2021, Mizuhara began betting with an illegal bookmaker. Within a short period, he had accumulated a debt of more than $40 million. To cover his losses, he began stealing directly from Ohtani’s account he helped create.

Mizuhara wired close to $17 million from that account between late 2021 and early 2024. To authorize the transfers, he made phone calls pretending to be the baseball star. He even modified the account’s contact information to cover his tracks. The scheme unraveled in March 2024 while the Dodgers were in Seoul, South Korea.

Mizuhara first told ESPN that Ohtani himself knowingly settled the debts. But this story quickly fell apart. Ohtani’s lawyers said their client had been the victim of a “massive theft,” and Mizuhara was fired.

A federal investigation quickly established that Ohtani was a victim. Investigators said they had no evidence that Ohtani was aware of the gambling or the theft. US Attorney Martin Estrada said Ohtani had been taken advantage of. Confronted with a mountain of evidence, Mizuhara pleaded guilty to bank fraud and tax fraud. In February 2025, he was sentenced to 57 months in federal prison. He was also ordered to pay more than $18 million in restitution.

Following the legal proceedings, MLB officially closed its investigation and formally cleared Ohtani of any wrongdoing.