HBO has released the official trailer for Surviving Ohio State, a documentary exploring the Ohio State University sexual abuse scandal.
Watch The Surviving Ohio State Trailer
Surviving Ohio State explores the Buckeye athletic program and Dr. Richard Strauss, the university’s sports medicine physician from 1978 to 1998.
Ohio State has one of the most prestigious athletic departments in the country. “The Buckeyes are a religion,” says a voiceover in a trailer.
Yet behind closed doors, Strauss committed horrific acts of sexual assault on hundreds of student-athletes. The vast majority of these cases involve males, including several former All-American wrestlers.
Surviving Ohio State includes many interviews with former Ohio State student-athletes, including Mark Coleman, Adam DiSabato, Michael DiSabato, Will Knight, Al Novakowski, Rockey Ratliff, Dan Ritchie, and Mike Schyck.
A man in the trailer asks, “How could these grain-fed tough guys be victims of sexual assault?”
“Bravely told by the student-athletes and others who concealed their trauma for years, the film builds on the efforts of whistleblowers and journalists who exposed the scandal in 2018,” HBO’s synopsis reads. “It also examines the culture that allowed the abuse to continue unchecked for nearly two decades at OSU, as well as the survivors’ present-day fight to hold the school accountable.”
Surviving Ohio State premieres Tuesday, June 17 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HBO and will stream on Max.
Who Is Involved In Ohio State Sex Abuse Documentary?
A scandal in Buckeye Nation.
The new HBO Original Documentary, Surviving Ohio State, premieres June 17 on @StreamOnMax. #SurvivingOhioState pic.twitter.com/cmufCfXd9c
— HBO Documentaries (@HBODocs) June 5, 2025
Oscar- and Emmy-winning filmmaker Eva Orner (Taxi to the Dark Side) directs Surviving Ohio State.
The documentary is based on Jon Wertheim’s Sports Illustrated cover story, Why Aren’t More People Talking About the Ohio State Sex Abuse Scandal?
Surviving Ohio State hails from HBO Sports Documentaries, 101/Sports Illustrated Studios, and Smokehouse Pictures.
Producers include Orner, David C. Glasser, Grant Heslov, and George Clooney.
