Mike Tyson was the world heavyweight champion, he served a jail sentence for rape and he abused Robin Givens during their marriage. Why in God’s name would anyone get in his face or try to start anything with him? Even if, many would argue, Tyson has paid for his crimes and he’s now a softer version, Tyson 2.0, a doting father who spends much of his time ferrying his daughter to tennis practice and being peaceful? Why would you f–k with that 2.0 version of Mike Tyson? Well, someone tried it. Tyson was on a JetBlue flight with a drunk guy, seated directly behind him, who wouldn’t stop bothering him. So Tyson punched the guy in the head a few times.
Mike Tyson seemed to lose his cool on a plane on Wednesday night … repeatedly punching a man in the face after the guy had apparently annoyed him. TMZ Sports has learned … the incident all went down at around 10:30 PM PT as Tyson was slated to fly out of San Francisco International Airport to Florida.
A witness on the plane says as he and his friend were boarding Tyson’s flight … the boxing legend was initially cool with them and the other passengers. The witness tells us Mike took a selfie with him … and then was patient with his overly excited buddy, who kept trying to talk to the 55-year-old fighter as he sat behind him. Eventually, though, we’re told Tyson had enough of the guy behind him talking in his ear … and told him to chill. When the guy didn’t, that’s when the witness says Tyson started to throw several punches at the man’s face.
Video we obtained shows Tyson throwing a flurry of blows at the man, which you can see bloodied the passenger’s forehead. The witness says Mike walked off the plane just seconds later.
We’re told the man who was punched received medical attention and then went to the police over the incident. The San Francisco Police Dept. tells TMZ Sports officers did respond to the scene … and did detain two people they believed to be involved in the incident. Cops added, though, that after one of the people was treated for non-life-threatening injuries, that person “provided minimal details of the incident and refused to cooperate further with the police investigation.”
Tyson still has crisis managers, lawyers and publicists at his disposal, so his version of the incident came out pretty quickly too. Tyson’s version is that the guy was “extremely intoxicated” and he “wouldn’t stop provoking the boxer in his seat.” Sources maintain that the guy was harassing Tyson and the guy threw a water bottle at Tyson before the plane took off. Tyson’s rep told TMZ that “Unfortunately, Mr. Tyson had an incident on a flight with an aggressive passenger who began harassing him and threw a water bottle at him while he was in his seat.” There are a few videos going around and it definitely looked like the guy would not leave Tyson alone.
Now, do I think all of this could have been handled differently? For sure. But at the end of the day… again, WTF did you think was going to happen if you start sh-t with Mike Tyson? Y’all can say “well, Tyson should have done this” or “Tyson should have done that.” But it was up to Tequila Brett to act like he had the good sense god gave a goose when he’s around someone who could kill him with his bare hands.
Tyson couldn’t possibly be more in the right https://t.co/xHUGCBuyTv pic.twitter.com/RzstEWxIgl
— feitelberg (@FeitsBarstool) April 21, 2022
“Social media made folks way too comfortable with disrespecting people and not getting punched in the face for it” – Mike Tyson
— NUFF (@nuffsaidny) April 21, 2022
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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- Mikkel Kessler and Mike Tyson press conference in Copenhagen,Image: 534503820, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Henrik Hildebrandt / Bang Showbiz / Avalon
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- Mike Tyson Grammys Las Vegas,Image: 680100110, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – Los Angeles Office (PCN): +1 310.822.0419 UK Office (Avalon): +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 sales@pacificcoastnews.com FEE MUST BE AGREED PRIOR TO USAGE, Model Release: no, Credit line: MHD / Avalon
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- Mike Tyson Grammys Las Vegas,Image: 680100142, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – Los Angeles Office (PCN): +1 310.822.0419 UK Office (Avalon): +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 sales@pacificcoastnews.com FEE MUST BE AGREED PRIOR TO USAGE, Model Release: no, Credit line: MHD / Avalon
Tyson’s hands are weapons. Literally, in a court of law, they would be considered as such. So that passenger fool was playing with a firearm, and it went off!
Gosh i didnt know that was a thing until the Chris Brown/Rihanna case, because he is a karate black belt his hands were considered deadly weapons.
I think that I vaguely remember that also being the case when Olivier Martinez beat up Halle Berry’s ex (her daughter’s father, I forgot his name). I remember it being said at the time that his hands were considered deadly weapons since apparently he was a former boxer.
That’s the premise of Con Air that Nick Cage’s hands were considered weapons. And that’s how I know that’s a thing.
No, they wouldn’t. That’s a myth.
@MissMari, not necessarily. If a trained fighter were to engage in an altercation and seriously injure someone, then they would be held to a higher standard than you or I, who have no fight training. An untrained person simply doesn’t stand a chance against a professional, and has no possible way to defend themselves. They are merely taking a beating.
Yeah not many people feel sorry for the guy who was clearly trying to get a pay day reaction from Mike.
I am extremely anti violence
However, this pleased me. The guy got what he was looking for
Same here and after watching the tapes… I don’t know how Tyson kept his cool for so long. He actually showed restraint in his punches because we all know how much damages his punches can inflict.
We should be looking more closely at JetBlue over serving this man and allowing him to be seated with reports he was harassing Tyson for a selfie and vulgar towards other flyers.
No Tyson should not have thrown any punches, but jet blue shouldn’t have seated that man behind him and should not have over served.
He also looks like Tyson let him off pretty easy. He’s got a little boo boo on the side of his face, but he’s still conscious and his nose and jaw are still intact. LOL! I’m #TeamTyson on this one.
“this pleased me” – LOL, I love how you phrased that and I feel the same. This guy is a d-bag.
TMZ is exposing this guy and he has a very long criminal record. He was clearly trying to incite Tyson so he could sue. But all he did was get exposed as a major scum bag
Didn’t think of that, but yeah, could be the reason/
TMZ was the outlet they paid to expose the man’s criminal past and it was a clear smear campaign that was already in motion after the man refused to press charges.
Sounds like the guy was on Drugs and made bad choices with bad people around him. Just like Tyson once upon a time.
True plus I agree! There are folks whose plans are to antagonize certain famous people in order to get the bag from them via litigations. They’re doing this is a CRIME in itself, and these CRETINS should be countersued along with thrown in prison because of their own damn foolishness! 👆
I can’t understand how people could think Tyson hitting someone is somehow understandable. Sure the guy hit was obnoxious but, trust me, if he was a non-celebrity Tyson would have been arrested on the spot. Tyson always had poor impulse control. You do remember he was sent to jail for rape? I think it’s a credit to his PR people and staff that he is looked upon favorably at all.
@Poisonella
Not just rape, he bit Evander Holyfield’s ear off in a fight. The man is brutal!
I would assume Mike Tyson is dangerous at any age. He could be 90 and in a wheelchair and I’d still leave him the hell alone.
My question is this: why tf is Mike Tyson, who supposedly makes 500k a month from his legal pot business, flying on Jet Blue?!?!?!
Lots of very rich folks do. NYC to Palm Beach..
Melania and Ivanka we’re regulars
Just becauae you are rich does not mean you have to use the obscene options all the time.
It’s a good red-eye flight for cross country, very popular flights. I always take Jet Blue when I fly from Calif to NY and back.
This question is along the same line as asking a rape victim why s/he was wearing a particular type of clothing at the time of their assault..
It’s irrelevant and insulting.
Um. No it’s not Jonesy. Not at all.
How was that guy not removed from the flight prior to this situation escalating? The flight should have landed and he should have been arrested. It’s not ideal, but it seems like the logical thing to do with an unruly passenger. Also, why did the flight attendant not move the guy’s seat? Flying is just the worst these days.
They were boarding the flight. It hadn’t left the airport yet.
I was thinking the same thing. Why was this guy not approached by the airline staff? This guy should have been removed for being clearly out of control on a plane. Just because Tyson is a public figure does not mean he is just fair game for harassment.
I’m curious why Tequila Brett’s friend didn’t stop this dipshit from harrassing another passenger, no matter who it was.
Drunk white guys are a public menace and everyone is sick of their bs.
This
Classic case of F*ck Around and Find Out, if you ask me.
Exactly. I mean… his name is “Iron” Mike Tyson. These kids only seem to know him from the Hangover and singing… and not the Heavyweight title or biting off Holyfield’s ear. Hell… how do you mess with someone with a FACE tattoo?! Just a few weeks ago there was a video of him weaving and bobbing doing a demo for someone. Ain’t no way in Hell….
Where were the airline staff that should have intervened? Why did they ignore what was happening? I mean, the guy harassed Tyson and threw a water bottle at him. The staff was clearly not doing anything to stop it so the guy FAFO. I am not a fan of Tyson at all but it seems to me the bully-wannabe got what he came for.
I dunno but if I was a flight attendant in this situation I’d be working on the basis that Mike T was more than capable of standing up for himself….
@TheHench – a flight attendant just trusting that Tyson “can handle the situation” is a pretty bad dereliction of duty. Someone, even someone who is fully capable of defending themselves physically, should not have to do so on a flight.
Maybe he was rude to FT too and the FT wanted to see him get punched.
FT: That’s it, dipshit keep poking the bear.
Agreed, where were the Flight Attendants? Furthermore, why did the place take off if the incendient happened while the place was still parked at the gate?
If this had been two nobodies fighting, the one laying hands would have been arrested and removed from the plane. Special treatment because it’s Mine Tyson?
@ Staff No he would not have. The guy who assaulted Mike would have been arrested because he was the one who started it and the one who got physical first, not to mention he was highly intoxicated.
I remember watching Mike’s biggest fights in the late 80s and 90s. He was incredible. You’d be a grade A fool to start a fight with this guy. Even as someone in their mid-50s, Mike could still break your face.
I blame the airline more than Mike Tyson. The unruly passenger was either already drunk (and therefore shouldn’t have been allowed to board) or got drunk on the plane (in which case the crew served him too much alcohol). They also allowed him to harass another passenger without intervening. I am not violent but I got the urge to punch him myself.
There’s a lot of cell phone footage out there showing this man drinking and then harassing Tyson for a selfie. Being loud, aggressive. And it shows Tyson repeatedly politely asking the man to stop and chill out.
I also think even though Tyson his harasser he showed a ton of restraint in his punches.
Tyson knows how to land/pull a punch. He wasn’t trying to hurt the guy which he easily could have. The fact the guy has minor bruises shows Tyson held back.
I have met Mike Tyson many times here in Vegas (he had an office in my building) and he has always been a calm and nice person but you can see the old Mike under the surface sometimes. I do not understand what kind of fool would provoke him. I think that man got a well-deserved beatdown.
Does he seem lucid and sensible? I remember talk in the 80s that he was cognitively impaired from his fighting career.
He seemed very lucid and polite. I ran into him literally at the Albertson store across the street from our office and he laughed it off and fist-bumped me. Not in the face but in the fist LOL
OMG @ A Mike Tyson fist-bump! Do you have a commemorative plaque on your knuckles? 🙂
I will now have the Jim Croce song “Don’t Mess Around With Jim” running through my head all day.
Drunk guy illustrates one of my favorite phrases to use in a situation like this: Play stupid games, win stupid prizes!
If there ever was an example of “F%ck around and find out” this is it.
Just about every violent incident with airline customers involves alcohol. I know the airlines and airports make a ton of money selling it, but it needs to stop. I’m sure flight attendants have multiple other things to do, many of them involving plane safety, that they don’t have time to babysit drunk idiots. We all know that’s how corporations work. Incidents like this, is on the management.
Mike Tyson’s suit, shirt and beard are just wonderful. What a great look for him.
Yes, he looks really good in that suit.
I see “fuck around and find out” has reared its ugly head again….what an idiot. Who pokes THAT bear?!?!
That was my first thought when I saw the video last night. Who picks a fight with freaking Mike Tyson?! Even litigious morons looking for fast money have to realize THIS fight is not worth it. Tyson could have easily put him a coma in 2 seconds. Such a stupid STUPID thing to do.
Drunk idiots on airplanes is nothing new and I have so much respect for Flight Attendants and the sheer human idiocy they have to deal with.
That said, someone working on this plane should have stopped this idiot from harassing a celebrity passenger, especially one as notorious as Mike Tyson.
Did this drunk frat boy loser deserve to be put in his place? Seems like it. Does his behaviour condone a total beat down? Never! Someone like Mike should be able to control himself in public. Period. If you can’t stop yourself from beating up idiots in public, or on airplanes, you’re a menace to society and a risk to everyone, including yourself.
While Tequila Chad here clearly F’ed around and found out, this trend of using physical violence to solve issues is disturbing. It’s a slippery slope and it’s sad to see some people taking what feels like an evolutionary step backwards…
I don’t think it’s a new trend at all, it’s just visible more with technology. I constantly saw pests and bullies get this treatment for harassing people and thinking everyone would just ignore them. You can feel personally how you want about physical violence, but if you assault someone you can’t determine their resulting response or if it’s too much. This guy would not have gotten the reaction he did if he sat in his seat and minded his business.
@Stef
I disagree first off there was no “ total beat down“ that’s a exaggeration on your part, he got a small bruise on his face. There was no broken bones or jaw which Mike is more then capable of causing. The guy assaulted Mike after Mike had told him to leave him alone more then once and the staff did nothing.
Do think if a woman is walking down the Street and gets assaulted, that she has no right to defend her self?
@Coco “Do think if a woman is walking down the Street and gets assaulted, that she has no right to defend her self?”
Of course, anyone has a right to defend themselves if they are being assaulted. But the question is, if a person is verbally and consistently annoying you, do you have the right to physically assault them? Clearly, it is normal that you want to…at least most people I know would want to do so. But legally, can you do so if the person has not touched you? Now, Tyson said the guy threw a water bottle, so, perhaps he will plead self-defense? Either way, use of force wasn’t really necessary, even if Tyson may have found it satisfying. Shame on the flight crew for letting it get that far.
Point Blank this is a case of f*** around and find out when you sit your happy ass down stay drunk if you are but not bothering nobody you ain’t got to worry about no static. when you get in people’s face and you keep harassing them and they are more than patient with you and you are told that you are being a menace that you are invading someone’s personal space you are continuing to harass them and you don’t stop and flight attendants aren’t doing anything about it and if that person decides to force you to leave them alone you get what you get. I think the one thing everybody need to stop hiding behind whether it’s Will Smith or whatever where some people only going to take being harassed and f***** with for so long before they turn around and snap on your ass and this is another classic case of it. ,,also unless Airline policies have changed he shouldn’t have been allowed to get on the plane that drunk his flight should have been canceled they dropped the ball on that as well. but no matter how you feel about Mike Tyson homeboy got off EASY….he could have got seriously hurt way worse ….hopefully lesson learned for his dumb behind.
Tyson did control himself. Otherwise Tequila Brett would have walked out on a stretcher or in a body bag. In actuality, he lived to tell the tale with a few bruises. And now the whole word knows what a turd he is. Let’s see how the rest of this goes.
Dude must have been so drunk that he thought he was dealing with Connor McGregor. (Remember the senior citizen who continued to drink his pint after getting punched.)
Ugh. Speaking of dumb white guys I’d like to see Mike Tyson punch…
bahahahaha
Going to place some blame on the staff. That passenger should have been removed prior to take off or relocated if they were mid flight.
Team Tyson
Hmmm interesting how most of the comments here are cool tempered and even supportive. Different from the Will Smith comments I saw. Why is Mike Tyson’s behavior understandable or “to be expected”? He wasn’t in immediate fear of his life. He was being annoyed and harassed but he wasn’t in actual danger, unless I’m missing something.
I don’t agree with how this was handled by the airline (though I have sympathy for the employees, who are probably over-worked and have few resources). They shouldn’t allow boisterous or unruly passengers, period. And if they weren’t stepping in, Mike Tyson or his staff should have left and filed a police report. This is a sign of a man who isn’t in control of himself or his temper, who doesn’t have the mental acuity or social skills to handle the situation without a violent attack. Or even his staff should have stepped in to defuse the situation or shield him.
Mike Tyson has a terrible history of violence against women. I don’t know … he may be a completely changed man now. I hope he is but I doubt it. Abusers don’t usually change; they learn to mask and hide their cruelties better. They don’t treat everyone badly, just the ones they think they can get away with.
I would say because one situation isn’t like the other. This guy actually assaulted Mike Tyson, whether or not he’s a better fighter or a professional doesn’t matter. If you assault someone you don’t get to say oh you’ll beat me up so you don’t get to respond. As far as his previous behavior that literally has nothing to do with this situation, people don’t have to stop reacting in the present because of their past. He showed great restraint. If I went up to OJ Simpson and punched him and he laid me out, that’s what I get.
Gotta love all the dog whistle in your response. Showed your true colors even though you favor only White color. That last sentence says so much about you. So any person could slap you and you would be a doormat?
This is a false equivalency.
Mike Tyson has a turbulent past but over the past several years has kept a pretty low profile as far as trouble goes. You are blaming Mike Tyson who was the victim in this situation by saying he should have left or his staff should have intervened. How about the aggressor just not be aggressive and stop harassing and throwing things a people?
What is interesting is that you seem to put them blame on Mike and the staff and not on the drunk guy or his friends.
It seems the doors to the plane were closed so no Mike couldn’t just walk off the plane. You seem to be ok with the drunk assaulting Mike, but have a problem with Mike defending himself.
Honestly, the man in that video looked like he was being super annoying. I can see why people would side with Tyson.
It looked like he intended to get a reaction from a former boxer and … uh… he got one!
No one should be hitting anyone else, it doesn’t matter if the person is annoying you. Don’t hit them. Don’t hit someone for someone else in the name of “Love”. That isn’t love, that is violence. Once that starts to happen, they will start to hit you because you don’t love them enough…or you looked the wrong way.
Don’t condone violence. I lived with it from the time I can remember. Vicious beatings. The person inflicting the pain does it to feel better…and it doesn’t work.
If FAFO were a person, it would be Taquilla Brett.
And yes, Tyson was extremely light on him.
I swear some men are such idiot d-bags the only way for them to learn a lesson is to get hit in the face (looking at you Willy). IMO Tequila Brett is lucky to be alive with all his appendages intact and CR is lucky it was just a slap.
I’m no fan of Mike Tyson and his relationship with women. However, I do think time, almost financial ruin, and the death of his young child mellowed him out. That being said, I think he had every right to beat the ish out of that man. The man wanted to get a rise out of him and mission accomplished.
So I’m suppossed to choose between siding with the convicted rapist or the drunk idiot? It’s like an American election.
OMG brutal! And so accurate. 🤣🙄🤭
epistemic bubbles, Or a Supreme Court nomination panel.
Good grief, the footage online clearly shows that Mike Tyson didn’t provoke this guy and yet his past from years ago is mentioned by a few different posters. Remove his known previous occupation from the situation. Remove his previous time served from the situation. Now is there a problem with this guy defending himself under the same situation??
Women get raked over the coals and have their problematic behavior dragged up just for using fashion and words instead of their hands to stand up to misogynistic abuse and harassment directed at them. Things are dragged up not just as an excuse for why they deserve whatever they get, but to try to coerce other women into supporting violence toward them as well to prove their loyalty. Sometimes people are ready to pounce on women just for daring to talk about trauma. Tyson wasn’t wrong to defend himself. But it’s noteworthy how consistent and quick we are to shield men from being held to the same standards women are held to, when it comes to talking about problematic behavior.
His previous occupation matters. Sorry. His previous biting off of an ear matters. His self-reporting that he got out of prison early for the rape of Desiree Washington because he was sleeping with his prison counselor matters. In his book, ‘The Undisputed Truth’ he wrote, ‘Sometimes I just fantasize about blowing somebody’s brains out so I can go to prison for the rest of my life.’ That matters. No one walks around with a magic wand and fairy dust to make your past disappear. If there is a pattern of behavior, it will come to light, and will will matter.