WARNING: Language in this article may offend some readers.
TORONTO – Former world heavyweight champ Mike Tyson lost it on live television Wednesday afternoon after a reporter referred to him as a “convicted rapist.”
Tyson, who met with Toronto mayor Rob Ford on Tuesday, was asked during an interview on 24-hour news channel CP24 if meeting with someone convicted of rape would impact Ford’s bid for re-election in October.
He responded by swearing repeatedly at the reporter, even going as far as calling him a “piece of sh**.”
When the reporter, Nathan Downer, commented they were on live television, Tyson replied “I don’t care. What are you going to do about it?”
Downer tried to get the interview back on track, asking about Tyson’s one-man show Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth, which he is in Toronto to perform.
Tyson didn’t seem interested in answering and brushed it off by saying it “speaks for itself” before his publicist jumped in to hype it up.
When Downer asked if performing on stage or boxing was more nerve-racking, Tyson said it was more nerve-racking talking to a “rat piece of sh** like you,” referring to Downer.
In a tweet sent after the incident, Downer apologized for the language aired and acknowledged his question had hurt Tyson’s feelings and said that was not his intention.
Tyson has a long history of run-ins with the law, including serving three years in prison in Indiana for the 1991 rape of a Miss Black America pageant contestant.
-With files from The Canadian Press
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