Mike Tyson slams Hulu’s new series about him: ‘They stole my life story’
Aug 8, 2022, 11:51 AM
On August 6, Mike Tyson voiced his displeasure over Hulu's new series "Mike," which debuts on August 25 and stars Trevante Rhodes, from 2016's "Moonlight," as the famed boxer. Tyson is pictured here in California in 2021. (JC Olivera/Getty Images/FILE)
(JC Olivera/Getty Images/FILE)
(CNN) — Mike Tyson is not happy about Hulu’s new scripted limited series about his life.
The former heavyweight champion on Saturday voiced his displeasure over Hulu’s new series “Mike,” which debuts on August 25 and stars Trevante Rhodes, from 2016’s “Moonlight,” as the famed boxer.
“Don’t let Hulu fool you. I don’t support their story about my life,” Tyson’s wrote in an Instagram post. “They stole my life story and didn’t pay me.”
He added, “To Hulu executives I’m just a (expletive) they can sell on the auction block.”
In a previous post on Instagram Saturday, Tyson alleged that Hulu tried to pay UFC president Dana White to promote the series, but that he refused.
“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,” he 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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Hulu had no comment regarding Tyson’s reaction.
“Mike” is an eight-episode limited series, which “explores 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,” according to Hulu.
Dramatizations have rankled their subjects before, so Tyson’s complaints — while stern — are not new. For example, many of the former Los Angeles Lakers earlier this year were not happy with their portrayals in HBO’s drama series “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty.” Executive and former Laker, Jerry West, went as far as to demand a retraction. (HBO, like CNN, is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery.)
Yet Tyson doesn’t really have much a recourse in terms of “Mike” since scripted series of famous people’s lives are often produced without their permission or input.
The company’s description notes that the series is “an unauthorized and no-holds-barred look at the life of Mike Tyson,” adding that it’s “one wild ride.”
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