Hate the Player: The Ben Johnson Story

Name: Hate the Player: The Ben Johnson Story
Released: 2026-03-26T00:00:00.000Z
Cast: Shamier Anderson, King Bach, Ennis Esmer

TV Show · Comedy

A satirical sports mockumentary following the global sprinting icon's definitely-not-biased account of one of the most infamous scandals in sports history. To reclaim his legacy and set the record straight, Johnson finally tells his side of the story around the 1988 Summer Games and what is now known as "The Dirtiest Race in History."

2026 · 22m

Starring Shamier Anderson, King Bach, Ennis Esmer

Director R.T. Thorne, Cory Bowles

EPISODE 1

A Rival

To be the best one has to beat the best; and when Ben Johnson starts racing in the early 1980s, all the best sprinters are juicing; so Ben did what he had to do and evened the playing field; don't hate the player, hate the game.
EPISODE 2

White Father

Charlie Francis uses his failures as a sprinter for Team Canada to motivate a movement; he seeks out black athletes to take Canada to the top; with Charlie's knowhow and Ben's black-thleticism, they changed track forever.
EPISODE 3

The Man With The Plan, Astaphan

With the science changing month to month, Charlie and Ben bring in Jamie Astaphan to focus on performance enhancement; Jamie takes the team to new heights, but isn't satisfied with how little credit he's getting.
EPISODE 4

The Race

Ben has spent ten years building up to this ten seconds; Ben hits rock bottom when he has to watch Carl Lewis walk away with a prize.
EPISODE 5

Mama's Boy

Traveling back to Ben's childhood in Jamaica to see the origins of his drive; his love for his mother, Gloria Johnson, is at the centre of all his decisions.
EPISODE 6

Ben vs Everybody

Canada is hurt after Ben test's positive for steroids; Ben is punished for embarrassing them in front of the world; a whole new race takes place to see who hurts Ben the hardest.

Shamier Anderson

Actor
King Bach

Actor
Ennis Esmer

Actor
R.T. Thorne

Director
Cory Bowles

Director

Information

Studio: CBS
Released: 2026
Rated: 14+
Region of Origin: Canada

Languages

Original Audio: English (United States)
Audio: English (United States) (AD, ⁨Dolby 5.1⁩, AAC)
Subtitles: English (United States) (CC)

Accessibility

: Closed captions (CC) refer to subtitles in the available language with the addition of relevant non-dialogue information.
: Audio descriptions (AD) refer to a narration track describing what is happening on screen, to provide context for those who are blind or have low vision.

Hate the Player: The Ben Johnson Story

Season 1

Cast & Crew

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