HBO is taking the lid off one of college sports’ darkest chapters with Surviving Ohio State, a hard-hitting documentary executive produced by George Clooney and Grant Heslov through Smokehouse Pictures. The project premieres Tuesday, June 17 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HBO and streams on Max.
Directed by Oscar and Emmy winner Eva Orner, the film lays out the story of Dr. Richard Strauss, a now-deceased sports medicine doctor at Ohio State University who is alleged to have sexually abused hundreds of male students across two decades—allegations that didn’t fully break into public view until 2018.
The documentary draws from Jon Wertheim’s damning Sports Illustrated exposé, amplifying the voices of those who tried to sound the alarm while the university looked the other way. Interview subjects include former All-American wrestlers Mark Coleman and Adam DiSabato, referee Frederick Feeney, and LGBTQ military veteran and OSU alum Stephen Snyder-Hill.
The film includes first-hand accounts from whistleblowers and survivors—among them former All-American wrestlers Mark Coleman and Adam DiSabato, referee Frederick Feeney, and LGBTQ military veteran Stephen Snyder-Hill—many of whom have spent years fighting for accountability.
Surviving Ohio State is the latest entry in HBO’s expanding slate of true-crime and investigative docs aimed at exposing systemic misconduct with high-profile creative weight behind the camera. Smokehouse Pictures and 101 Studios are producing.
