Mike Tyson isn’t one to play with, and streaming platform Hulu is finding that out.
Tyson is livid over Hulu’s upcoming biopic, “Mike”, on the boxing legend as it was told without his approval.
“Don’t let Hulu fool you. I don’t support their story about my life,” said Tyson. “It’s not 1822. It’s 2022. They stole my life story and didn’t pay me. To Hulu executives I’m just a ni**er they can sell on the auction block.”
After Tyson’s backlash, The Athletic reached out to Hulu for comment. Hulu referred to showrunner Karen Gist’s quote from last week’s Television Critics Association press tour.
“We just wanted to tell an unbiased story and have the audience decide what they think or feel,” said Gist. “Challenging what people think they know about Mike and hoping that they come away from the series with something else to think about. Whether you like him or hate him, does the story make you question how complicit society has been? That was the intention, that was the North Star for the writers’ room as we were crafting stories.”
Regardless, Tyson isn’t happy with Hulu. He even blasted them for trying to get Dana White to promote it.
Many have come to Tyson’s defense including UFC fighter Nate Diaz and WBC President, Mauricio Sulaiman.
“I just spoke to him [Tyson] I’m so upset to learn that his upcoming series were produced without his involvement and consent,” tweeted Sulaiman. “The WBC was mislead by Hulu.”
“Someone should get fired from Hulu” tweeted Tyson. “Producers were lying to my friends saying I supported the unauthorized series about my life.”
We’ll see later this month if Iron Mike’s flurry of angry tweets and strong support from individuals like White, Diaz and Sulaiman affects the series ratings.
