Mike Tyson is not happy with Hulu.
The legendary boxer took to social media to call for a boycott of the streaming service after it was announced that a limited series on Tyson titled Iron Mike had been given straight-to-series order.
“Hulu’s announcement to do an unauthorized mini-series of the Tyson story without compensation, although unfortunate, isn’t surprising,” Tyson wrote on IG. “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.”
Iron Mike was created Oscar-winning writer Steven Rogers. He’ll be joined by I, Tonya star Margot Robbie, who will be executive producer under the LuckyChap banner, according to Deadline, along with Mixed-ish’s Karin Gist as showrunner and executive producer as well as Craig Gillespie as executive producer. Hulu has ordered eight episodes of the series that look to dive into the polarizing, exciting, and, at moments, tragic life of the heavyweight champion.
Mike Tyson has been very busy before this news. He just had an exhibition match against Roy Jones Jr. in November. Both veterans came out of retirement to put on a show, and he recently appeared in FX’s latest docuseries, Hip Hop Uncovered. While he is a boxing legend, Tyson was also intrinsically tied to hip-hop at the genre’s inception. The Brownsville, Brooklyn native talked about growing up around hip-hop OG’s like Haitian Jack and seeing the violence the music was talking about in his own backyard.
Tyson made history by becoming the youngest boxers to win the heavyweight title at age 20. His run from 1987 to 1990 was one of the most dominant in boxing history, but his challenges outside the ring began to make as much noise as his knockouts. Iron Mike looks to explore all of that, and then some.
