Latest news with #SurvivingOhioState
Winnipeg Free Press
22-07-2025
- Sport
- Winnipeg Free Press
Republican Jim Jordan deposed in federal suit tied to sex abuse by late Ohio State team doctor
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Republican U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan was among those questioned under oath this month after release of a new documentary about the sexual abuse of Ohio State University athletes decades ago by a team doctor, according to a court filing. Jordan's deposition Friday came in a federal lawsuit brought by former student athletes against the university over its failure to stop abuse by Dr. Richard Strauss, who died in 2005. Hundreds say they were abused by Strauss, who worked at the school from 1978 to 1998. Many ex-wrestlers over the years have accused Jordan, who served as assistant coach of the Ohio State wrestling team from 1986 to 1994, of knowing about the abuse and failing to act. The 10-term congressman's office had declined to confirm Friday's deposition, but it reiterated Jordan's denial of any awareness of Strauss' crimes or the cover-up. 'As everyone knows, (House Judiciary) Chairman Jordan never saw or heard of any abuse, and if he had, he would have dealt with it,' a statement said. Jordan formerly sat for questioning during the university's independent investigation of the matter, but this was his first time under oath. A Monday court filing shows attorneys for the former athletes also questioned Michael Murphy and John Doe 72, both plaintiffs in the case, on July 9 and July 11 respectively, and former long-time Ohio State Athletic Director Andy Geiger on Wednesday. The depositions follow the airing of 'Surviving Ohio State,' a documentary on the Strauss scandal produced by George Clooney and directed by Academy and Emmy award-winning director Eva Orner. The film was released June 17 on HBO and Max.
NBC News
17-07-2025
- Politics
- NBC News
Rep. Jim Jordan faces deposition about OSU sex abuse scandal
Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, one of the Republican Party's top inquisitors in Congress, is expected to be deposed Friday about allegations that he failed to protect the wrestlers he once coached at Ohio State University from a sexual predator, four plaintiffs in lawsuits against the university told NBC News. Jordan, who was the assistant wrestling coach at the university from 1986 to 1994 before he got into politics, has repeatedly and publicly denied any knowledge that the team's doctor, Richard Strauss, was preying on the athletes. It will be the first time Jordan has be questioned under oath by lawyers representing hundreds of former OSU students, both athletes and nonathletes, who are suing the school for damages in federal court in the Southern District of Ohio. Jordan is not a defendant, but he is referred to in some of the lawsuits alleging he was aware of the abuse. Jordan, the powerful chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and a staunch ally of President Donald Trump, is known for his combative questioning of witnesses and for avoiding suit jackets during it. Reached for comment, Jordan spokesperson Russell Dye released a variation of the statement Jordan's team has been using since July 2018, when three former OSU wrestlers told NBC News that Jordan was lying when he claimed he did not know that Strauss molested them under the guise of giving physical examinations. 'As everyone knows, Chairman Jordan never saw or heard of any abuse, and if he had, he would have dealt with it,' the statement said. Mike DiSabato, who wrestled for Jordan and was the first former OSU student who publicly accused him of having turned a blind eye to the abuse Strauss inflicted on him and his teammates, said he does not expect Jordan to say any more than he already has. 'I assume he's going to triple down and follow the same script he followed back in 2018 when he went on Fox and denied knowing about any abuse, denied being told of any abuse, never heard the word 'abuse,'' DiSabato said. DiSabato was referring to an interview with Fox News' Bret Baier in which Jordan also insisted that he did not hear any locker room banter about Strauss. Still, said DiSabato, who previously reached a settlement with OSU, he hopes Jordan 'will finally come out and admit that he knew Strauss was doing unnecessary prostate exams, doing unnecessary genital exams, taking multiple showers with athletes, all while being employed by a university funded by the state of Ohio.' Jordan will sit down for a deposition about a month after the release of an HBO Max documentary about the Strauss scandal called ' Surviving Ohio State,' in which one of the wrestlers he once coached flat-out called him a liar. Another Strauss survivor, Steve Snyder-Hill, said he will watch the deposition Friday at his lawyer's office in Columbus. While he is not a former athlete, Snyder-Hill is one of the former OSU students suing the university. 'I expect him to lie under oath,' Snyder-Hill said. 'I don't know a nicer way to put it.' Snyder-Hill said Strauss abused him at a campus clinic in 1995. He said that what the doctor was alleged to have been doing to young men under the guise of giving physical examinations eventually became an open secret throughout campus, extending beyond the athletes' locker rooms. 'Jordan had a locker two down from Strauss, and Jordan claims he didn't know?' Snyder-Hill said. 'That's hard to believe.' Strauss, who died in 2005, worked at OSU from 1978 through 1998. Prompted by allegations from DiSabato and other former OSU wrestlers, the university agreed to an independent investigation by the Perkins Coie law firm, which concluded in 2019 that coaches and athletic administrators knew for two decades that Strauss was molesting male athletes and other students but failed to sound the alarm or stop him. Jordan's former communications director, Ian Fury, insisted in 2019 that the report absolved Jordan. All of the coaches and administrators' names were redacted in the version of the report released to the public. Fury cited as proof a line in the report that said investigators 'did not identify any other contemporaneous documentary evidence indicating that members of the OSU coaching staff, including head coaches or assistant coaches, received or were aware of complaints regarding Strauss' sexual misconduct.' Since the release of the report, OSU has said it has paid out $60 million in settlement money and its former president has publicly apologized 'to each person who endured' abuse at the hands of Strauss. Several of the lawsuits mention Jordan by name. Still facing at least five active lawsuits from 236 men alleging Strauss molested them, too, OSU, which had apologized to Strauss' victims and had reported in 2019 that Strauss committed 1,429 sexual assaults and 47 rapes, walked back its previous position in October 2023 and denied having admitted any wrongdoing. The settlements it paid out were without admission of liability and were reached through mediation. OSU also argued that the statute of limitations in the case against it had run out. But in June 2023, the Supreme Court refused to reconsider a lower court ruling that said former students should be allowed to sue OSU, paving the way for their lawyers to question Jordan and other OSU employees about Strauss. Former Athletic Director Andy Geiger was deposed Wednesday, NBC affiliate WCMH of Columbus reported. Some of the lawsuits refer to Geiger as one of several people whom student-athletes allege they told about the abuse when it was happening. 'We plan to depose every OSU employee alleged to have known about Strauss' abuse, including the employees named in the complaints,' Adele Kimmel, director of the Public Justice Students' Civil Rights Project, said in June 2023.
New York Times
30-06-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
‘Surviving Ohio State' documentary gives chilling reminder of a ‘powerless' time
'How could this have happened?' That question is at the center of 'Surviving Ohio State,' a documentary released June 17 on HBO and Max. The film, produced by George Clooney and directed by Academy Award- and Emmy Award-winning Eva Orner, gives voice to the victims of Dr. Richard Strauss, a physician employed by Ohio State from 1978 to 1998 who was accused of sexually abusing thousands of male students. The documentary is based on a 2020 story by Sports Illustrated reporter Jon Wertheim. Advertisement Although the victims spanned many teams at the university, and also included students who weren't athletes, it was alumni members of the men's wrestling team who came forward in 2018. The nature of wrestling, with its emphasis on strength, coupled with the victims being male, made it hard for some people to understand how the abuse could have taken place. 'We were powerless,' Mark Coleman, a victim who went on to become the UFC's first heavyweight champion, said in the film. 'All I knew is that I wanted to be a national champion, and I wasn't gonna stir the f—–g pot with the big-time Ohio State University.' A scandal decades in the making in Buckeye Nation.#SurvivingOhioState premieres June 17 on @StreamOnMax. — HBO Documentaries (@HBODocs) June 5, 2025 The film examines the forces that allowed this abuse. Chief among them was the imbalance of power between Strauss and his victims. Strauss controlled their medical clearance, which meant athletes had to see him to compete. Strauss, who was never charged with a crime, denied the allegations that were made during his time at Ohio State. He committed suicide in 2005 at 67. 'It was classic predator behavior,' Orner told The Athletic. 'If (the victims) did anything, they would have lost everything — and a lot of them did lose everything. A lot of them dropped out of college. A lot of them quit the team. Their whole life trajectory was changed.' In examining the culture at Ohio State that allowed Strauss' abuse to continue for two decades, the film turned to the coaches of the victims, investigating what they knew and how they responded. The biggest name publicly associated with this story is Jim Jordan, a former assistant wrestling coach who is now a Republican congressman from Ohio. At least seven victims, including some who hadn't spoken publicly until appearing in the documentary, have claimed Jordan knew of the abuse during his time at Ohio State. However, Jordan has repeatedly denied any knowledge of this. Advertisement 'Chairman Jordan never saw or heard of any abuse, and if he had, he would have dealt with it,' spokesperson Russell Dye said in an email to The Athletic. Ohio State also defended the way it treated Strauss' victims. 'Ohio State led the effort to investigate and expose Richard Strauss, and we express our deep regret and apologies to all who experienced Strauss' abuse,' university chief spokesperson Benjamin Johnson said in an email to The Athletic. 'Since 2018, we have reached settlement agreements with more than half of the plaintiffs, 296 survivors, for more than $60 million. All male students who filed lawsuits have been offered the opportunity to settle. 'In addition, the university continues to cover the cost of professionally certified counseling services and other medical treatment, including reimbursement for counseling and treatment received in the past.' Rocky Ratliff, a former member of the wrestling team, criticized Jordan's actions, saying they have focused on protecting Jordan's reputation rather than assisting those who were allegedly abused. 'These are guys that he sat on mom and dad's couch saying, 'Hey, we're going to protect your kid, bring him to Ohio State. We're going to make sure he graduates. We're going to make sure he has a great career,' ' Ratliff said. 'He recruited these guys, but not one of them has he picked up the phone to say, 'Hey, I saw your name. You supposedly got sexually abused at Ohio State?' 'He got a press firm to say he didn't know. Got a bunch of people to say he didn't know.' While the documentary's release might prompt more questions for Jordan, many victims are still fighting to hold Ohio State accountable. Hundreds have settled lawsuits with Ohio State, but others are still mired in litigation. 'I don't think anyone expected it to go on this long, and it's incredibly painful,' Orner said. 'On the surface, OSU is saying they acknowledge what's happened. They've done an investigation, they have offered settlements, they offer counseling. They say this all the time. … But the problem is behind the scenes, they've gone all the way to the Supreme Court fighting this on statute of limitations. It's now going back to trial, and the settlements they've offered are problematic.' A post shared by HBO Documentary Films (@hbodocs) The documentary says that while the victims of Jerry Sandusky's sexual abuse have received an average of $1.5 million from Penn State, and the victims of Larry Nassar's abuse have received an average of $1.2 million from Michigan State, the victims of Strauss' abuse who have settled with Ohio State have received an average of $250,000. Advertisement In exploring the financial disparity, the film does note that Nassar is still alive while Strauss died 20 years ago. Still, the documentary makes the case that Strauss' victims have faced an uphill battle for respect and restitution. 'When the guys came out against Dr. Strauss,' Orner said, 'there was a level of them being vilified and questioned and being made fun of.' The documentary asks whether that doubt and lack of understanding — illustrated through toxic social media posts that followed the wrestling team coming forward in 2018 — has empowered Ohio State to offer less money than they would have provided female victims. '(The victims) all consider themselves still Buckeyes, and I think that's what hurts them so much,' Orner said. 'They spent some of the best years of their lives competing for this university, and now this university is treating them in a way that's hurting them enormously.' As one man in the film, Stephen Snyder-Hill, put it: 'I'm a survivor of sexual assault, but I'm a victim of OSU.' (Photo courtesy of HBO)
Tom's Guide
17-06-2025
- Sport
- Tom's Guide
How to watch 'Surviving Ohio State' documentary online – stream true crime from anywhere
"Surviving Ohio State" arrives on the heels of "Athlete A" and "At the Heart of Gold" about the sexual abuse of young athletes at Michigan State and "Happy Valley" about similar sick revelations at Penn State in what is fast becoming a distressing genre of documentary. Here's how you can watch "Surviving Ohio State" online around the world and from anywhere with a VPN. "Surviving Ohio State" premieres in the U.S. on Tuesday, June 17 at 9 p.m. ET.• U.S. — HBO/Max• CAN — Crave• AUS — Max• Watch anywhere — try NordVPN risk-free At Ohio State, the focus is on the activities of Dr. Richard Strauss who it is believed abused at least 177 male students at Ohio State (some estimates go as high as 2,000+) from 1978 to 1998. He worked particularly with the fencing, hockey and wrestling teams. The latter was coached by Russ Hellickson with two-time NCAA champ Jim Jordan as his primary assistant - Jordan is now a prominent Republican Party politician. The accusations against Strauss involved inappropriate examinations, his taking of showers in the locker room with athletes and grooming behavior. Jordan, amongst others, claims to have known nothing about the abuse whilst the victims allege there is a conspiracy of silence at the university (indeed, the documentary is based on the 'Sports Illustrated' article: "Why Aren't More People Talking About the Ohio State Sex Abuse Scandal"). Strauss eventually retired on his own terms. Those affected are currently seeking redress. Many of them appear in the film. Read on and discover how you can watch "Surviving Ohio State" online with all the streaming details you need below. "Surviving Ohio State" premieres in the U.S. on Tuesday, June 17 on HBO at 9.00 p.m. ET/ 6.00 p.m. PT. and will be available to stream on Max. Max prices start at $9.99/month if you don't mind ads, going to $16.99/month for ad-free and $20.99/month if you want the option to watch content on up to four devices and in 4K. For even better value, you can pay for a whole year upfront and effectively get 12 months for the price of 10 on any of its tiers. HBO can also be added to OTT streaming services such as Hulu, Amazon Prime Video and Disney Plus. Traveling outside the States? You'll need to use a VPN to unblock Max when abroad. Max is no. 1 on our best streaming services list for its vast, high-quality library, including all of HBO's prestige series like "Game of Thrones", "The Last of Us" and "Succession", plus recent offerings among the best Max shows such as "House of the Dragon", "True Detective: Night Country" and "The White Lotus". If you're traveling overseas and "Surviving Ohio State" isn't airing where you're currently located, that doesn't mean you have to miss the show while you're away from home. With the right VPN (virtual private network), you can stream the show from wherever you are. We've evaluated many options, and the best VPN you can get right now is NordVPN. It meets the VPN needs of the vast majority of users, offering outstanding compatibility with most devices and impressive connection speeds. You can try it risk-free for 30 days if you take advantage of NordVPN's no-quibble money-back guarantee. There's a good reason you've heard of NordVPN. We specialize in testing and reviewing VPN services and NordVPN is the one we rate best. It's outstanding at unblocking streaming services, it's fast and it has top-level security features too. With over 7,000 servers across 115+ countries, and at a great price too, it's easy to recommend. For a limited time only, new subscribers in the US and Canada can also get up to $50 of Amazon vouchers with a two-year plan. Get over 70% off NordVPN with this deal Using a VPN is incredibly simple. 1. Install the VPN of your choice. As we've said, NordVPN is our favorite. 2. Choose the location you wish to connect to in the VPN app. For instance, if you're visiting the U.K. and want to view a U.S. service, you'd select a U.S. server from the location list. 3. Sit back and enjoy the show. Head to your streaming service app — so Max, for example — and watch "Surviving Ohio State" online from wherever you are in the world. "Surviving Ohio State" premieres in Canada on Crave on Tuesday, June 17. Crave subscriptions start at $9.99/month for its Basic plan (720p video, includes ads) all the way up to $22/month for Premium (ad-free, 4K, downloadable shows). Those on vacation away from Canada will need one of the best VPNs to log in back home to use Crave. We recommend NordVPN. Unfortunately, there is no release date in the U.K. for "Surviving Ohio State". When that changes you'll read about that here first. Americans and Canadians on vacation in the U.K. who just can't wait will need a good streaming VPN to log in back home. We recommend NordVPN. "Surviving Ohio State" premieres in Oz on Max (now available Down Under) on Wednesday, June 18. Plans start at AU$11.99/month and run up to a premium version of AU$21.99. Not at home? Don't panic. You can still watch the show from your usual domestic streaming platform with a VPN. We recommend NordVPN. Strauss committed suicide in 2005, claiming in a note that he had been experiencing "significant escalating medical and pain problems since January 2002". No, not right now. The feature-length documentary will be streaming on Max, premiering June 17 in the U.S.. Remember to use NordVPN if you need to access your usual streaming service. We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example: 1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service). 2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad. We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.
Chicago Tribune
15-06-2025
- Sport
- Chicago Tribune
‘Surviving Ohio State' review: A documentary about the sex abuse scandal at Ohio State
According to a report commissioned by Ohio State University, a sports medicine physician employed by the college was responsible for least 177 instances of sexual abuse committed over a 20-year period, from 1978 to 1998. The experiences recounted by male athlete alumni in filmmaker Eva Orner's HBO documentary 'Surviving Ohio State' are devastating and the contours of the story resemble those of so many other sex abuse scandals. That's not a mark against the film, but an observation that the harm tends to unfold in what are, by now, familiar patterns. Richard Strauss was the team doctor at Ohio State across numerous sports, including wrestling, hockey and fencing. That 177 number only accounts for those who came forward, but one person estimates that thousands of students were likely affected during the years of Strauss's employment. News anchor Colleen Marshall was one of the journalists who looked into the allegations early on in 2018, and she is interviewed here as well: 'Who was this accused doctor? I had trouble finding any information about him. It's very difficult to find a photograph of this Dr. Richard Strauss. The university itself doesn't have a lot of photographic evidence of this man. He's like an enigma. It's weird. It almost felt like it was by design. And that made this all the more troubling.' Here's how one survivor sums up their contact with Strauss: 'If we had an illness, he's the one we went to. If we needed medication for something, he's the one that we went to. If we had an injury, he's the one that we went to. And each and every time, it was a full-body check that resulted in a genital check, without fail. And the man never wore gloves. It was always skin on skin.' As one hockey player remembers: 'Once I got a slap shot off my foot, and first thing he said was 'Drop your trousers.'' More than one student remembers feeling Strauss' breath on their groin. The documentary is based on reporting by Sport Illustrated's Jon Wertheim, and focuses on students who attended Ohio State in the late '80s and early '90s who were galvanized to come forward after seeing women gymnasts disclose the abuses of Larry Nassar, who was employed at Michigan State University and was medical coordinator for USA Gymnastics. An OSU student following that case said he instantly related to the women's stories and recalls thinking: 'Wow, that's us.' Nassar ultimately pleaded guilty to criminal sexual assault and is serving a decades-long sentence in federal prison. Strauss died by his own hand in 2005, more than 10 years before OSU commissioned its report, so there can be no similar legal outcome, which is perhaps why the story itself might be less well-known. Without a criminal trial, it has been gone from the news cycle. However, the wrestlers featured here are pursuing a lawsuit against the university. Dan Ritchie is one of those survivors. He is a school teacher and remembers his colleagues talking about the Strauss allegations when they first broke. 'One day I'm sitting in our teachers' lounge and some of the other guys are talking about it and one of the male teachers, he was an older guy, he said, 'Well, I can't believe that — if I was there, if this happened to me, I'd kick that guy's ass.' And I'm thinking, man, you have no idea what you're talking about. And the next thought was: I'm gonna have to talk about this. Oh (expletive), here we go.' (George Clooney and Grant Heslov are among the documentary's producers). 'Surviving Ohio State' is upsetting and devastating, but also deeply sad because — as is common in similar cases — the film presents claims that those in positions of power looked the other way or tried to bury concerns when they were raised. One man says his mom asked him if he told the coaches, but 'telling would imply that they didn't know.' The issues with Strauss were an open secret 'that we all just tiptoed around and we just dealt with it because we're Buckeyes,' someone else says. One athlete recalls going to his coach: 'And he just said to me, 'Don't worry about the doctor, worry about your playing.'' There's a brief moment in the film when we glimpse of someone wearing a T-shirt that says 'shut up & train,' and it underscores so much. I was struck by how Orner quietly but firmly makes clear that responses to these kinds of traumatic experiences don't necessarily differ because of gender. Did you fight back? Did you say no? These are questions women face when disclosing an assault. It's instructive, I think, to hear men — young athletes in peak condition who were bigger and physically stronger than Strauss — describe the horror and violation of unwanted sexual touch, and that their reaction to being assaulted was to freeze. There were significant power differentials at play as well. Strauss had the authority to withhold an athlete's clearance to compete. Putting their hands on Strauss could have jeopardized their scholarships or their place at the university. One former hockey player says Strauss drugged him under the guise of providing medical care, and then subsequently raped him. 'I don't know one guy that regularly goes to a doctor, none of 'em. It's really bad,' another survivor says. 'It was and still is one of the best-equipped, most well-funded, most lavish athletic departments in the country,' someone observes. 'The Buckeyes are a religion,' is a phrase used to describe the university's larger-than-life hold on people. It's difficult to not come away thinking that's a key part of the problem. 'Surviving Ohio State' — 3 stars (out of 4) Where to watch: 8 p.m. Tuesday on HBO (streaming on HBO Max)
