Mike Tyson accuses Hulu of stealing his life story with forthcoming series, ‘Mike’
The former boxing champion called Hulu "the streaming version of the slave master" over its unauthorized limited series about his life.
Mike Tyson invoked slave imagery and a slur to publicly accuse Hulu of profiting from his life story with its eight-part series about the former heavyweight boxing champion and declared the streamer “stole my life story.”
Tyson took to his Instagram page to drag Hulu for creating the series titled “Mike” without his consent and without compensating him. “Don’t let Hulu fool you,” Tyson wrote. “I don’t support their story about my life. It’s not 1822. It’s 2022. They stole my life story and didn’t pay me.”
The Boxing Hall of Fame fighter added that he was not compensated for the series. “To Hulu executives I’m just a n****r they can sell on the auction block,” Tyson posted. “Hulu is the streaming version of the slave master. They stole my story and didn’t pay me,” read the post’s caption.
This is not the first time Tyson has called out Hulu about “Mike.” In February 2021, he told The Hollywood Reporter about his views on the series, then titled “Iron Mike”:
“Hulu’s announcement to do an unauthorized miniseries of my life, although unfortunate, isn’t surprising,” Tyson told the Reporter. “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 my life story.”
As previously reported by theGrio, Hulu’s limited series about Mike Tyson is an “unauthorized” account of his life and career. Premiering on August 25, Hulu dropped the official trailer for “Mike” last month. A press release from the streamer describes the series as an “unauthorized and no-holds-barred look at” the former champion’s “career and personal life — from being a beloved global athlete to a pariah and back again.”
The series stars Trevante Rhodes in the titular role, Russell Hornsby portraying boxing promoter Don King, and Academy Award-winner Harvey Keitel as a special guest, playing Tyson’s late trainer and boxing mentor, Cus D’Amato.
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