Heavyweight boxer Mike Tyson was justified in pulling out of a £1.5m "viral" gambling advert as he refused to be the “butt of the joke" alongside a "ridiculous" giant pigeon mascot, a court has heard.
Tyson and his promotional firm Tyrannic is in the High Court in London over an alleged breach of a January 2024 sponsorship contract with the online gambling brand Rabona, promoted by Medier Ltd.
The proposed campaign involved the 60-year-old being interviewed on camera by someone dressed as a giant talking pigeon, before teaching it to box.
Lawyers for Medier claim Tyson and his company "simply lost interest" in the deal after securing the more lucrative $15m exhibition fight, in which he was defeated.
Tyson and Tyrannic deny breach of contract.
Mike Tyson had been due to feature on a channel called ‘Talking Pigeons’
Champion News
They claim Medier, a Cyprus-registered company, went beyond the terms of the contract first by requiring him to take part in a "ridiculous" online show known as "Talking Pigeons”.
Tyson and his wife, Lakiha, say the contract was limited to him being filmed playing "casino games" or other "approved" games from the company's website.
Mrs Tyson, who runs Tyrannic, was in the High Court witness box on Wednesday.
Ali Reza Sinai, the barrister representing Medier, put to her that the Tysons had been told in prior discussions that the “channel has a mascot of a pigeon which will always be present" and that "we hope you see the need for this type of viral content."
"The name of the channel is 'Talking Pigeons'. Doesn't that suggest to you that the pigeon would speak?" Mr Sinai asked.
Mrs Tyson told the court: "We wanted to go viral, but in a way that makes him and his brand proud, not a way that makes him look ridiculous.
"It's comical that I'm reading this [proposal] now because of the ridiculousness of it, putting Mike in a position where he is the butt of the joke, instead of controlling his brand and how he wants to be represented. It was crazy."
Lakiha Tyson attended London’s High Court
Champion News
Mrs Tyson said that she had been managing Mr Tyson’s image through her work with Tyrannic for the past 17 years.
"What I'll do is make sure that anything that Mike is asked to do is in his style, in his verbiage... then we'll approve it," she said.
"No talking pigeons...no talking trash to pigeons. We had to push back on the theme of pigeons and punching.
"[The channel] is 'Talking Pigeons', not fighting pigeons, not literally talking to a pigeon...it's just the name of the show.”
She added: "Mike didn't sign up to do a show with stuffed animals...Mike didn't sign up for this goofy show."
Mrs Tyson said the way Medier wanted to use her husband’s profile was “amateur hour”.
Mr Sinai suggested that the real reason the Tysons had pulled back from the deal with Medier was due to the fight he had booked with Paul.
“You didn't want him to do the show because you didn't want him answering questions about the fight,” he said. "It was not consistent with the PR of the Jake Paul fight."
Jake Paul defeated Mike Tyson in their 2024 bout
Netflix
Mrs Tyson said the “two things were totally separate things".
"They weren't conflicting in any way,” she added. “We had several other sponsors at the time too."
In his prime, Tyson inspired fear among the heavyweight ranks due to his intensity and sheer power, becoming the youngest world heavyweight champion ever aged 20 in 1986. He quit top tier boxing in 2005 with a record of 50 wins and seven losses.
His fondness for racing pigeons has been well documented over the years. In his autobiography, he explained how his love for them helped him deal with a troubled childhood in New York.
Mr Justice Richards was told the boxer had agreed to promote “gaming services” under the Rabona brand, doing so at live streaming events and also attending a major gambling conference scheduled to take place in Amsterdam between July 16-19, 2024.
The contract with Medier involved an instalment-based $2m (£1.5m) fee for Mr Tyson – payable to Tyrannic — out of which he was paid nearly $190,000 before they parted company.
Mr Sinai claimed Mr Tyson and Tyrannic LLC subsequently broke the contract by failing to perform agreed live streaming events and by “terminating” the contract without proper notice.
The hearing continues.