Mike Tyson has made it very clear how he really feels about “Mike,” the Hulu biopic based on his life — and it’s not right.
But Russell Hornsby, who stars as boxing promoter Don King in the eight-episode series, said “we’re trying to honor Mike Tyson and show some truths” about his life.
“He’s not the first to complain about how he’s portrayed in film or how he’s portrayed in books,” Hornsby told The Post. “This is a limitless look at Tyson and his life and you have to take the bend on the straight.
“We have not tried to glorify him and we have not tried to demonize him,” he said. “I think we intended to tell his story.”
Tyson, the former heavyweight champion, posted on his Instagram page that he has neither authorized his life story nor been paid.
“Don’t let Hulu fool you. I don’t support their story about my life,” he wrote. “They stole my life story and didn’t pay me. To Hulu executives, I’m just a ****r to sell on the auction block.
It wasn’t the first time Tyson slammed the streaming network; the first time was when the project was announced last year, during Black History Month. “This announcement on the heels of social inequalities in our country is a prime example of how Hulu’s corporate greed has led to this tone-deaf cultural obscuration of Tyson’s life story,” he wrote at the time.
“I think it’s okay that Mike feels that way. This man has been through a lot,” Hornsby said. “He had a lot of ups and downs and he has a right to feel that way, but I’m sure everything will be handled in the future. I’m sure he has lawyers, Hulu has lawyers and they will sort it out. ”
Trevante Rhodes (“Moonlight”) plays Tyson in “Mike,” which premieres on the streamer on August 25.
Despite all of Tyson’s animosity, Hornsby said he’d be happy to embrace a meeting with the Brooklyn native.
“If I ran into Mike Tyson, I don’t think he would have a problem with me personally. I don’t think his problem is with me [it’s] with others,” he said. “My feeling with Mike and Don [King] is that I didn’t look to denigrate them. I wasn’t looking forward to slandering… I was looking to honor Don King and his legacy and what he meant to the boxing world.
So yes, he will be viewed negatively in some cases.
“Is [King] will be viewed positively in what he has done by putting a lot of money in the pockets of many fighters and making money for many people in this country… white people included? Yes,’ he said. “So we have to take the corner with the straight and balance both. When you do, it invites a really nuanced conversation that I hope the audience is ready for.
“Hulu didn’t just want to denigrate Tyson, but this story is well known – so let’s have a conversation about what was presented. I ask the audience to judge the show through today’s lens. Mike Tyson is a byproduct of the fact that it was made in America… for better or worse.”