There Was Never a Chance That He Would Not Smoke the Toad

June 10, 2019 1:12 PM

Tyson had a story to tell. Tyson had become a dedicated marijuana user. After he'd endured years of more serious substance abuse, weed had helped him come out of the shadows. He was a chilled-out 50-something tennis dad who'd seemingly put active self-destruction behind him. Hickman says that by that point he had “a lot of major A+ stars coming at me, trying to coordinate some branding in the [cannabis] space.” He says he met with Snoop and with representatives from Playboy. But no one made more sense than Mike Tyson. “It's changed his life,” Hickman says. “He's the perfect person.” Mike Tyson Smokes the Toad [SLGQ] [Content Warning: Tyson]
posted by chavenet (9 comments total)

Yeah, I couldn’t finish the article. Yet another venture that seems like the core of it is to exploit Mike Tyson. I want no part of that.
posted by Big Al 8000 at 2:05 PM on June 10, 2019 [4 favorites]

the core of it is to exploit Mike Tyson

At the very end of the article the business partner rather tellingly completely drops the use of "we" for "I" when talking about contingencies and exiting. He talks about what he will have left rather than the business team or investors. Pronouns shifts are often really inadvertently telling with business people.
posted by srboisvert at 2:51 PM on June 10, 2019 [16 favorites]

Thank you for putting your finger on what was bugging me. Mike Tyson seemed really not at all a part of any of the "business" side of it - his job was to have celebrity friends (or "friends") who would come endorse/get involved in the scene, and otherwise be a model stoner in sharp contrast to his history. Which pose the reporter clearly did not entirely believe.
posted by restless_nomad at 2:54 PM on June 10, 2019 [2 favorites]

great now a bunch more randos will decimate the fragile amphibian population
posted by The otter lady at 5:16 PM on June 10, 2019

He smoked the toad and I got the creeps. Huh.
posted by nevercalm at 6:39 PM on June 10, 2019

One toad over the line.
posted by mosk at 7:01 PM on June 10, 2019 [9 favorites]

The rehabilitation of Mike Tyson is pretty interesting. The fact that he went to prison definitely makes me more inclined to give him a second chance. Sadly, celebrities are rarely held accountable in this way, so they can’t really earn that forgiveness.
posted by snofoam at 8:03 PM on June 10, 2019 [4 favorites]

Was it so hard to believe that the same transformative process that redeemed the devil's lettuce could sweep up and redeem Mike Tyson...?

The devil's lettuce.

The devil's lettuce.
posted by RakDaddy at 7:57 AM on June 11, 2019

Apparently hell doesn't just have all the best music, it has all the best lettuce too.
posted by dazed_one at 2:19 PM on June 11, 2019