Dana White killed a deal with Hulu because Mike Tyson was angry with the streaming giant
- UFC boss Dana White killed a deal with Hulu after finding out Mike Tyson was angry with them.
- The streaming giant is airing this month an authorized series called "Mike."
LAS VEGAS — Dana White said he killed a deal with Hulu because Mike Tyson was angry with the streaming giant.
The former heavyweight world champion boxer compared Hulu to a "slave master" in a tweet this month.
They "stole my story," he said.
Hulu declined to comment.
Tyson does not support Hulu's series, titled "Mike," which debuts August 25 and stars Travante Rhodes as Tyson.
The 56-year-old alleged that Hulu tried to pay White, his friend, to promote the series. The boxer added that White refused the offer.
"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," Tyson wrote on Instagram.
"He turned it down because he honors friendship and treating people with dignity," Tyson continued. "I'll never forget what he did for me just like I'll never forget what Hulu stole from me."
Elaborating on the verbal agreement UFC had with Hulu, White told Insider and other reporters on Tuesday that a deal was very close.
What doomed the plans was a phone call with Tyson.
"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 at a press conference that followed the latest episode of his Contender Series at the Apex in Las Vegas.
"And 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 fucking me'."
For White, that's all he needed 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."
Hulu's series airs this month
Showrunner Karin Gist said at a Television Critics Association Press Tour this month: "We just wanted to tell an unbiased story and have the audience decide what they think or feel.
"Challenging what people think they know about Mike and hoping that they come away from the series with something else to think about.
"Whether you like him or hate him, does the story make you question how complicit society has been? That was the intention, that was the North Star for the writers' room as we were crafting stories."