Hulu’s eight-episode biopic “Mike,” inspired by the life and journey of heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson, is here, but its muse isn’t entirely checking for it.
The 56-year-old retired athlete did not mince his words when expressing his ill feelings toward the streaming giant’s latest release. In a new interview with “Access Daily,” the 56-year-old said he wanted to set the record straight.
“I was just here, and I wanted everyone to know that the show that they made, ‘Mike’ from Hulu, I have nothing to do with it,” he explained. The famed athlete claimed, “They never offered me any money. They never came to offer me anything to be involved with the movie, and they just stole my story and ran.”
When asked how he felt about the unauthorized series, the fan-crowned “Iron Mike” said, “it’s just a really disgusting feeling that people could just steal your person, your rights, your personal life and you can’t do nothing about it.”
Mike admitted, “I just can’t believe this ”and claimed the people behind the series were “one time my friends and I guess they decided to do a story on me.”
Lopez shared that Hulu declined to comment on the incident, however, its showrunner Karin Gist previously said, “We just wanted to tell an unbiased story and have the audience decide what they feel.”
Mike said he’s not sure why the public is so fascinated with his story, which includes a troubled childhood, a high-profile divorce from actress Robin Givens, a rape conviction and the honor of being regarded as one of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time. “Maybe I’m interesting; I’m not interesting to me or my family… I’m just Mike,” he added.
The former athlete acknowledged that the executives behind the biopic wanted “to make some money” but said, “they should have went about it in the proper way, and that’s the only thing I’m talking about.”
Mike further claimed, “They knew I had my own story on the table and still they went on….” A visibly frustrated Mike added, “I can’t even explain… It’s just really disgusting stuff that you can do this professionally and steal somebody’s story, and they had nothing to say and nothing to defend themself with in a situation like that.”
The former athlete shared that there is an “accurate story” of himself in the works, but viewers won’t be presented a “white fence and everything’s great” type of story. He added, “It’s a constant struggle, brother, and that’s just what it is. Sometimes it’s not going to be pretty most of the time, but it’s going to be truthful.”
Hulu’s “Mike” stars “Moonlight” breakout actor Trevante Rhodes. The first two episodes are now streaming, with new episodes released on Thursdays.
