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For years now, we’ve been hearing that Jamie Foxx was set to play heavyweight boxer Mike Tyson in a new biopic. Well the talk is getting louder and the movie is coming, for sure now.
And while Mike Tyson has been a hero for some, he wasn’t for his ex-wife Robin Givens who accused Tyson of abusing her during their relationship both before and after they married on February 7, 1988.
After Givens suffered a miscarriage in May of 1988, she filed for divorce after telling Barbara Walters that living with Tyson was “torture” and “pure hell.”
The two divorced but as a result, Givens was practically shunned in the African American community where she was regarded as a gold digger.
Tyson echoed these sentiments claiming that Givens stole millions from him and manipulated the public.
Their divorce was finalized on February 14, 1989. While there were reports that she was awarded a $10 million settlement, Givens denied it claiming that she never received a dime.
Now, we’re a little bit more educated on domestic violence and Tyson’s own demons. So when Givens spoke to Bevy Smith’s show Bevelations, she asked Givens does she hope she’s portrayed more favorably than she was in the immediate aftermath of their divorce. See what she had to say.
Bevy Smith: Do you hope that you’ll be treated kinder now that the real story has really come out? I think now people are a lot more gracious about what you went through, you were labeled a gold digger and all this stuff. Now people finally realize baby, that was not even the case. Do you hope that you’ll be treated more fairly in this biopic?
Robin Givens: How can I say no to that? Of course, yes. I think we live in a world right now, If you tell lies loud enough and often enough, they can stick. I’m from a family that we kind of—my grandmother was always like just go to mass and pray. But I think in many respects, what happened to me gave me a voice. But not only for myself but for other women that were in my position. I really ask people to really think on their own.
First of all, 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…I don’t think a lot of 22-year-olds can say that. I only say that, not to applaud myself –but it’s amazing that when people do tell lies, it kinds of takes away your truth. And I think it’s very important not to let somebody do that, not to let somebody rewrite history because you have a louder voice.
And I would like to believe—and I know for a fact because I’ve spoken with women. What happened to me, didn’t just happen to me. It happened to a lot of women.
I’ll never forget being on Oprah and having Oprah apologize to me. This is a different climate for women. Just like with COVID and we all were paused and could watch what happened to George Floyd. That wasn’t new. But we could all watch. We could all see.
And I think the #MeToo movement—this is a different climate. Men can’t brag about hitting women any longer and call them names or where the victimizer becomes the victim. And I hope the movie reflects that. We don’t let the victimizer get away with now being coming the victim.
In another interview with Andy Cohen, Givens said that she wishes she wasn’t included in the movie at all.
“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…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.”
You can listen to Givens’ response to the Tyson biopic in the clips below.
