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George Clooney Will Produce Docuseries About Ohio State Wrestling Scandal

BY February 23, 2021

Actor/writer/director/producer George Clooney and his producing partner, Grant Heslov, will helm a docuseries about the Ohio State wrestling scandal that has been hounding Ohio Rep Jim Jordan for years. Based on a Sports Illustrated story from last year by Jon Wertheim, the series will detail a long list of allegations against former Ohio State sports doctor Richard Strauss and the ensuing lack of action from university officials.

Jordan has been accused of participating in the scandal’s cover-up. Speaking to Ohio state legislators last year, a former captain of the university’s wrestling team said that Jordan begged him to deny Ohio State doctor Richard Strauss’s sexual abuse of wrestlers from 1979 to 1997.

Photo Credit: U.S. House Of Representatives

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Jon Wertheim will be an executive producer of the series. “This article uncovers the most widespread sexual abuse scandal in the history of American higher education. It is a story about power, abuse, enabling, and the hierarchy of college sports that had been concealed for far too long,” he said. “Because these courageous men made the decision to remain silent no longer, we can finally begin to hold the abuser, and those who were complicit in their silence, accountable for their actions — and inactions. Their voices and stories — harrowing as they are — will be amplified.”

Twitter certainly enjoyed learning about this news.

Wertheim’s story includes an account from former Ohio State wrestler (and UFC champion) Mark Coleman about Strauss’s alleged sexual abuse and administration of steroids to athletes. Coleman also alleges that Jim Jordan, then an Ohio State assistant wrestling coach and now a congressman, knowingly ignored Strauss’s abuse. The university quietly released Strauss from his position in the athletic department, but he remained a tenured professor at Ohio State. He also operated a private clinic near the Ohio State campus until committing suicide in 2005.



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