Earlier today, Hulu announced it had handed a straight-to-series order to Iron Mike, a Mike Tyson biopic series from I, Tonya screenwriter Steven Rogers and director Craig Gillespie with Mixed-ish’s Karin Gist as showrunner.
This angered Tyson, who put out a rather strongly worded statement on social media calling the series “cultural misappropriation” and “tone-deaf” to announce, particularly during Black History Month.
“Hulu’s announcement to do an unauthorized mini-series of the Tyson story without compensation, although unfortunate, isn’t surprising,” the boxing legend wrote in an Instagram post (see it below). “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. Hollywood needs to be more sensitive to black experiences especially after all that has transpired in 2020.”
The boxer added that an “authorized” story is currently in development and that the project would be announced in the coming days.
Hulu declined to comment.
