Boxing legend Mike Tyson has labelled US streaming service Hulu a “slave master”, with the former heavyweight champion claiming the company “stole” his life story.
Tyson aired his grievance against Hulu in a string of social media posts over the service’s looming series about the boxer’s life, Mike, which premieres on August 25.
In an Instagram post on Sunday, Tyson commended friend UFC President Dana White for not promoting the new show. The boxing great told his fans he wasn’t compensated “to promote their slave master takeover story about my life.”
“He turned it down because he honours 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.”
In a further post on Sunday, Tyson criticised Hulu again, condemning the upcoming Mike series for not paying him.
“Don’t let Hulu fool you. I don’t support their story about my life,” Tyson wrote.
“It’s not 1822. It’s 2022. They stole my life story and didn’t pay me. To Hulu executives I’m just a —— they can sell on the auction block.”
He also tweeted on Monday that “someone should get fired from Hulu”, saying producers lied to his friends by telling them he backed the series.
It isn’t the first time Tyson has shared his grievances with the production of Mike.
In February 2021, he criticised it as it a “tone-deaf cultural misappropriation” of his life.
“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,” Tyson said in a statement at the time.
Hulu has not publicly responded to requests for comment on Tyson’s “slave master” remarks.
According to the synopsis of Mike, the show will explore the highs and lows of Tyson’s career and personal life, “from being a beloved global athlete to a pariah and back again.”
