Mike Tyson isn’t happy about new TV biopic: “They stole my story”

"I don't support their story about my life"

Mike Tyson has criticised Hulu‘s biopic series Mike once again, claiming that “they stole [his] life story and didn’t pay [him]”.

The show is set to star Trevante Rhodes as the boxer, and will explore the “tumultuous ups and downs of Tyson’s boxing career and personal life – from being a beloved global athlete to a pariah and back again”.

However, in a new Instagram post, Tyson himself expressed his objection to the project.

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“Don’t let Hulu fool you. I don’t support their story about my life,” he wrote. “It’s not 1822. It’s 2022. They stole my life story and didn’t pay me.”

Tyson added in the caption: “Hulu is the streaming version of the slave master. They stole my story and didn’t pay me.”

The boxer expressed support for UFC president Dana White just a day before after the latter allegedly refused to promote Mike.

“Hulu tried to desperately pay my brother @danawhite millions without offering me a dollar to promote their slave master take over story about my life,” Tyson said on Instagram. “He turned it down because he honors friendship and treating people with dignity. I’ll never forget what he did for me just like I’ll never forget what Hulu stole from me.”

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This isn’t the first time Tyson has spoken out against the show, saying last year in a now-deleted Instagram post (via Complex): “Hulu’s announcement to do an unauthorised miniseries of the Tyson story without compensation, although unfortunate, isn’t surprising.

“This announcement on the heels of social disparities in our country is a prime example of how Hulu’s corporate greed led to this tone-deaf cultural misappropriation of the Tyson life story. To make this announcement during Black History Month only confirms Hulu’s concern for dollars over respect for black story rights.”

Showrunner Karen Gist defended the biopic’s unauthorised nature last week, saying at Hulu’s Television Critics Tour panel (via Deadline): “We just wanted to tell an unbiased story and have the audience decide what they think or feel.

Mike Tyson series
The life of Mike Tyson is explored in series ‘Mike’ CREDIT: Hulu

“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.”

Alongside Rhodes, Mike is set to star Russell Hornsby, Harvey Keitel, Laura Harrier, Li Eubanks, Olunike Adeliyi and B.J. Minor.

NME has reached out to Hulu for comment on Tyson’s latest comments.

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