“Don’t let Hulu fool you. I don’t support their story about my life,” Mike Tyson wrote in a brief Instagram statement. “It’s not 1822. It’s 2022. They stole my life story and didn’t pay me. To Hulu executives I’m just a [N-word] they can sell on the auction block.” He then took to Twitter to say that “someone should get fired” over the series.
“Someone should get fired from Hulu,” he tweeted. “Producers were lying to my friends saying I supported the unauthorized series about my life.”
“Hulu’s model of stealing life rights of celebrities is egregiously greedy,” he added in another tweet, along with the hashtag #headswillroll.
“Hey @hulu I’m not a n****r you can sell on the auction block,” he added in another tweet, along with the hashtags #slaveryisover and #f—hulu.
“Hulu stole my story. They’re Goliath and I’m David,” he went on. “Heads will roll for this.”
‘I’ll Never Forget What Hulu Stole From Me’
“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,” Mike went on. “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.”
This is not the first time that the 56-year-old athlete is speaking out about the project. Back in February 2021, AP News reported that Mike called the “unauthorized” series a “prime example” of “corporate greed” and “cultural misappropriation.”
“Hulu’s announcement to do an unauthorized mini-series of the Tyson story without compensation, although unfortunate, isn’t surprising,” Mike said at the time. “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,” he continued. “Hollywood needs to be more sensitive to Black experiences, especially after all that has transpired in 2020.”
The following month, USA Today reported that Mike was announcing his own “authorized story” starring Jamie Foxx as himself. Martin Scorsese and Jamie Foxx have reportedly been signed on to produce the series as well. In a statement, Mike said, “I have been looking to tell my story for quite some time.”
Hulu Series EPs Address Mike Tyson’s Criticism…
Earlier this week, Entertainment Tonight spoke with executive producers Steven Rogers and Karin Gist about Mike’s criticism of the Hulu series at the Television Critics Association.
“We actually couldn’t talk to him because his life rights were already taken, so that was never on the table. I would hope that if he watches it that he would change his opinion,” Rogers said on Thursday.
“For me, as a writer, as a storyteller, I don’t really like to be reliant on just one source,” he continued. “I really like to do the research and get all these different opinions and then put a story around all of that. I don’t like to be beholden to just one person.”
“That was our intention as well, to tell the story so that we’re talking about more than just the events in his life, but rather placing the story and giving it context in the world and at the time,” Gist added. “We really wanted to make sure we were as broad as possible in the research and the dramatization of the events of his life and we could make sure we were opening the doors to other conversations to be had around those things as well.”
…and Mike Fires Back!
Entertainment Tonight later followed up the interview with a statement from a rep for Mike, saying, “My life rights option expired years ago. Hulu nor any of their supercilious team ever tried to engage in any negotiations with this Black man.”
“They say this story is an exploration of a Black man. It’s more like an exploitation of a Black man,” he added. “Hulu thinks their tracks are covered by hiring Black sacrificial lambs to play the part as front men for their backdoor robbery is appalling. I will always remember this blatant disregard of my dignity.”
Many fans have taken to social media to support Mike Tyson and criticized Hulu for trying to tell his life story without his permission. Hulu has yet to comment on the ongoing controversy, although it does say at the end of the official description, “MIKE is an unauthorized and no-holds-barred look at the life of Mike Tyson – and it is one wild ride.”