Mike Tyson is a convicted rapist. This is a fact. As much as you may love The Champ in The Hangover or his accomplishments in the ring, his personal history doesn’t gloss over this fact: He was sentenced to 10 years in an Indiana prison in 1992, serving three, for raping 18-year-old Desiree Washington, Miss Black Rhode Island, in an Indianapolis hotel.
Tyson has owned up to a lot of the dumb shit he’s done over the years, but back in 2012, in an interview with Matt Lauer, he refused to apologize for this:
“I don’t really think I have to make amends to that, because I’ve done nothing,” Tyson said of Washington, maintaining his innocence. “I really didn’t do anything to her. I didn’t rape her. I didn’t beat her, I didn’t do anything to her. And I’m not gonna make amends. I made amends to myself. But to her, no.”
This afternoon, promoting his live show in Toronto on Canadian news, Mike Tyson was asked if Rob Ford’s re-election campaign for Toronto mayor might be affected by hanging out with a convicted rapist. Because facts can be uncomfortable, Tyson is not happy about that question and clearly restrains himself from turning the anchor into a punching bag.
It’s an uncomfortable situation for all: