Robin Givens Wants to Be Left Out of Mike Tyson’s Upcoming Biopic and Reflects on the Stain of Their Abusive Marriage
Mike Tyson’s colorful life will be on full display in an upcoming biopic. Fans are looking to learn more about the former heavyweight champion’s high points in his career, as well as low points, such as Tyson’s rape trial and his infamous marriage to Robin Givens. Givens prefers to be left out of the film, citing their marriage as too painful to relive.
Robin Givens says her marriage to Mike Tyson was abusive
Givens and Tyson were an odd pair from the start. She was prim and proper and Tyson’s reputation screamed ferocious boxer. There were reports that Tyson was abusive. In a 1988 sitdown with Barbra Walters, Givens admitted that she was on the receiving end of Tyson’s rage.
Likening Tyson to a manic depressive, Givens told Walters that Tyson had an “extremely volatile temper” that he couldn’t control. She also said he hit, shook, and punched her in order to scare her.
During the interview, Tyson hinted to him believing Givens was only with him for his money, telling Walters, “My wife would just have to ask for it and she has every penny I have,” he said. “She can leave right now…take everything I have and just leave. She has the right to do it. She has…the power to do it.”
Givens described living with Tyson as “torture” and “pure hell.” She filed for divorce weeks after the interview with Walters after alleging she had a miscarriage.
In a 2009 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Givens claimed Tyson was smarter than he led on, beating her without leaving physical scars.
Mike Tyson says Robin Givens is a golddigger
According to Tyson, the divorce filing proved Givens was a golddigger and out to ruin his name.
Tyson’s accusations painted Givens in a negative light and Givens was treated horribly in the press. In November 1988, Givens filed a $125 libel suit against Tyson for his claims. The Washington Post reported that Tyson called Givens a “slime” and accused her of stealing his money.
The publication also noted a New York Post article in which Tyson was quoted as saying that Givens “is continuing to manipulate the public. She manipulated me…I gave her love and then she stabbed me in the back.”
Related: Mike Tyson Once Confronted Donald Trump Over His Wife Robin Givens
In a recent interview with Bevy Smith’s Bevalations podcast, Givens says the idea of her being a golddigger is the furthest thing from the truth.
“I was a young woman at the time. I was 22-years-old. By the time I met my ex-husband and not to go through my things on paper but I had graduated from high school at 15. I went to college at 19. I was a Harvard grad. I had my own tv show. I had my own home by the time I met,” she explained.
There were reports of Givens receiving a $10 million divorce settlement, which she denies to this day.
Robin Givens doesn’t want to be part of Mike Tyson’s upcoming biopic
Jamie Foxx is starring as Tyson in an upcoming biopic and Givens wants nothing to do with it. Gives says that Tyson’s autobiography was a trigger for her as she says he lied about her throughout the book.
“I had a good friend of mine went and got the book that he wrote. I was reading it and there were so many things that are so not true that it’s hard not to feel deeply disturbed by it. So, in a way I hope I’m stronger because of this but it’s a little upsetting,” she told Andy Cohen.
“That’s going to be a tough one for me…to hear someone say, ‘The best punch I ever threw was against Robin and she bounced from one wall to the next and was out.’ I’m literally praying that we’re in a climate where that’s not acceptable.”
The release date for the biopic is unclear but Foxx has been sharing behind the scenes moments on his social media.
