Dana White explains passing on Hulu deal out of respect for Mike Tyson: ‘I killed the deal’

Dana White confirms he turned down a deal with Hulu out of respect for Mike Tyson.

Over the weekend, Tyson lambasted the streaming giant Hulu for their upcoming miniseries about his life, thanking White for his ongoing friendship in the process. Speaking with reporters after The Contender Series on Tuesday evening, White addressed Tyson’s recent declaration, confirming the story to be true and explaining why he did so.

“We were about to do a deal, or on the verge of a deal with Hulu, to promote this Mike Tyson unauthorized biography or whatever it is,” White said. “Craig Borsari, my head of production, came to me and said, ‘Hey, I’m hearing that Tyson isn’t happy about this thing’. So, I called Mike and I said, ‘We’re in a deal with these guys. We have a verbal to do this deal with them and he said, ‘Dana, they’re f****** me,’ and that’s all I had to hear. I said, ‘I’m out, then. I’ll squash this deal.’ So, I killed the deal and told them it was over, that I killed it, and we won’t be promoting that show for Hulu.”

Tyson is irate with Hulu over the “Mike” miniseries, claiming that he had no hand in it nor is he being paid for the representation of his life story. In a series of social media posts, Tyson attacked the streaming giant for “their slave master take over story” about his life and their business practices, which according to Tyson, include lying to his friends about his involvement in the show.

“Hulu tried to desperately pay my brother [Dana White] millions without offering me a dollar to promote their slave master take over story about my life. 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.”

“Don’t let Hulu fool you. I don’t support their story about my life. 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***** they can sell on the auction block.”

“Mike” is the latest creation from screenwriter Steven Rogers, who is best known for writing and producing “I, Tonya,” a 2017 biographical comedy of Tonya Harding, a film which received criticism for disregarding facts in pursuit of a better story. In that instance though, Harding gave the movie her blessing, whereas Hulu acknowledges “Mike” as “an unauthorized and no-holds-barred look at the life of Mike Tyson.”