Mike Tyson’s wife told the High Court that the boxing icon abandoned a £1.5 million advertising deal because it would have been “ridiculous” for him to appear on screen speaking to a giant pigeon shortly before his fight with Jake Paul.

The former heavyweight champion, 60, is being sued in London by Medier Ltd, the promoters behind online gaming brand Rabona.

Medier alleges that Tyson and his company, Tyrannic LLC, breached a sponsorship agreement signed in January 2024. The business is controlled by Tyson’s wife, Lakiha Tyson.

According to the claim, Tyson unlawfully withdrew from the campaign after agreeing to face YouTube personality-turned-boxer Jake Paul in a £15 million exhibition bout.

The planned advertisement would have featured Tyson being interviewed by a performer in a giant pigeon costume before he taught the talking bird how to box.

Lawyers for Medier argue that Tyson and Tyrannic “simply lost interest” in the project once the more lucrative exhibition fight had been secured.

Tyson and Tyrannic deny breaking the agreement. Instead, they claim Medier breached the deal first by insisting that the boxer appear in an online entertainment programme called Talking Pigeons, which they described as “ridiculous”.

Tyson was ultimately beaten by Paul, then 27, in the globally streamed bout, which was shown on Netflix. He later said he had “no regrets” about returning to the ring for one final fight.

The court heard that the Netflix fight was initially scheduled for July 20, 2024, but was postponed until November.

The proposed Rabona programme would have required Tyson to deliver scripted lines alongside four presenters, including one dressed as a pigeon. He was also expected to share stories from his childhood and teach the presenters to box using a mannequin bearing the face of his former rival, Evander Holyfield.

Tyson’s lawyers say the live-stream “performance” went “far beyond the scope” of the contract. They maintain that the agreement only required him to be filmed playing casino games, or other games approved by the company, on its website.

While Mrs Tyson was giving evidence, Medier barrister Ali Reza Sinai told the court that the programme had to be understood in the context of “artistic creation”.

He said: “If you do a show, you want it to be popular. You don’t want people to say, ‘Oh, Mr Tyson is such a boring person online.’”

He added: “It would not have been possible for Mr Tyson to be in Amsterdam without breaching his Netflix agreement.”

“The defendants simply lost interest in the service agreement once the more rewarding exhibition fight was firmly agreed.”

Amanda Hadkiss, representing Tyson and Tyrannic, rejected that account. She previously told the court that the role demanded of Tyson during the live-stream event went “far beyond the scope of what might reasonably be considered to have even been required” under Tyrannic’s obligations.

“Medier was requiring Mr Tyson to participate in an entertainment show format named ‘Talking Pigeons’,” she said.

“The show was to involve four other — unspecified — presenters. One of them was to be dressed as a giant pigeon.”

She said the format involved a scripted role-play performance in which Tyson would deliver prepared lines and interact with the presenters and the pigeon after being “beamed in” to their studio via video link.

‘Mr Tyson was then to be required to be asked a series of questions; to share childhood stories; to teach the presenters how to box using a mannequin containing the face of his former boxing opponent, Evander Holyfield, which the presenters were to punch – and then to play casino games on the Rabona website while interacting with the presenters.

‘The defendants’ position is that the nature of the performance which it was agreed that Mr Tyson would give and which Tyrannic was therefore contractually obliged to provide, is clear.

‘It was agreed that the activities Mr Tyson would be filmed whilst carrying out were ‘playing in casino games’ such as ‘slots, poker, roulette etc’.

‘It was agreed that Mr Tyson would alternatively be filmed playing in ‘other games and events’ but so long as these other games and events were ‘included in Rabona’s website’ and so long as they had been ‘approved’.

‘The nature of the performance Medier was requiring Mr Tyson to give within that stream was both of a very different nature to and exceeded the scope of the performance [the contract] required that Mr Tyson would provide.

‘Tyrannic did not therefore breach [the contract] as a result of indicating in advance that Mr Tyson would not be attending such an event and/or because of Mr Tyson’s non-attendance at the event.’

Mr Sinai  added 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?’ said the barrister.

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.’

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Mrs Tyson said that she and the boxer have been married for 17 years and that she has been running Tyrannic for 17 years and organising what projects he puts his name to.

‘I 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.

‘What we objected to was the interaction in the way they wanted with the mascot pigeon.

‘He agreed to take part in playing games, but not in the format of these ridiculous plots. Not with big puppets and things which are disrespectful to his brand.

‘Mike didn’t sign up to do a show with stuffed animals…Mike didn’t sign up for this goofy show.’

The barrister argued that the Tysons had three days to disagree with the proposal and discuss the pigeon suit, but said they ‘didn’t do that’.

Mrs Tyson said her team ‘needed a moment’ to get their ‘ducks in a row’, and criticised the firm for their professionalism.

She added: ‘This was us dealing with a company which, to be honest, was amateur hour in the way they wanted to use Mike’s name.’

The barrister responded: ‘The problem for you, you say, was the goofiness of the show, the fact you didn’t like the context of it,’ before putting to her that in fact, ‘you didn’t want him to do the show because you didn’t want him answering questions about the [Jake Paul] fight.

‘It was not consistent with the PR of the Jake Paul fight.’

‘The two things were totally separate things,’ she replied. ‘They weren’t conflicting in any way. We had several other sponsors at the time too.’

Tyson became the youngest heavyweight champion ever at age 20 in 1986, finally quitting top-tier boxing with 50 wins and seven losses.

Tyson’s fondness for racing pigeons has been well documented over the years.

In his autobiography, he detailed how his love for the birds helped him deal with a troubled childhood in New York.

He has also previously admitted having been terrified of confrontation and only got into fighting after beating up a man who killed his pet pigeon.

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.

The contract with Medier involved an instalment-based $2million fee for Mr Tyson – payable to Tyrannic – out of which he was paid nearly $190,000 before they parted company.

Mr Sinai, for Medier, 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.

Mr Sinai labelled Tyson’s Netflix deal to fight Jake Paul the ‘elephant in the room’, arguing that the boxer ‘simply lost interest’ in his Rabona deal.   

The court heard Tyson’s bout with Jake Paul was originally slated to happen on July 20, 2024, although it ultimately took place in November, with Tyson beaten by the YouTuber-turned-boxer.

But the deal agreed with Medier envisaged that Tyson would attend a ‘PR event’ for Rabona at the high-profile gambling conference in Amsterdam between July 16-19 2024.

Medier’s barrister claimed the right ‘inference’ was that Tyson and Tyrannic feared that participating in the Amsterdam event would conflict with the terms of his Netflix deal, which curtailed non-fight-related sponsorship in the build-up to the Jake Paul clash.

Mr Sinai said: ‘Being in Amsterdam in July was agreed…that was extremely important to Medier

‘The defendants simply lost interest in the service agreement once the more rewarding exhibition fight was firmly agreed.’

Denying the allegation on behalf of the boxer and Tyrannic, barrister Amanda Hadkiss had earlier told the court the ‘performance’ demanded of Tyson in the live stream event went ‘far beyond the scope of what might reasonably be considered to have even been required in order to comply with Tyrannic’s obligations’.

‘The nature of the performance Medier was requiring Mr Tyson to give within that stream was both of a very different nature to and exceeded the scope of the performance [the contract] required that Mr Tyson would provide.

‘Tyrannic did not therefore breach [the contract] as a result of indicating in advance that Mr Tyson would not be attending such an event and/or because of Mr Tyson’s non-attendance at the event.’

Kelly Clarkson spent just four minutes and 50 seconds inside Brooklyn’s Art of Play toy shop. But that brief visit has since sparked a public dispute, with the singer facing criticism online after trading her long-standing image as America’s sweetheart for an unexpected new label: Hollywood’s latest “Karen.”

Over the weekend, Clarkson posted an angry message claiming that employees at Art of Play treated her like Julia Roberts’ character in Pretty Woman and refused to sell her a $15,000 mechanical songbird named Molly.

The accusation quickly developed into a heated dispute, with Clarkson and the store presenting sharply different accounts of what happened. So far, neither side has shown any sign of backing away from its version of events.

The Grammy-winning singer and former talk show host says staff made her feel as though they believed she “couldn’t afford” Molly. The owners of Art of Play, however, maintain that the bird was never available for purchase.

The clash between Clarkson and the Brooklyn novelty shop triggered a fierce online reaction. Interest intensified when sports journalist Pablo Torre said he had obtained surveillance footage showing the singer’s visit.

The Daily Mail has now reconstructed the encounter minute by minute, highlighting details—including a fleeting curl of the lip—that were absent from both Clarkson’s account and the store’s retelling.

Surveillance footage shows Clarkson entering the Brooklyn Heights novelty store with her daughter, River, 12, and son, Remy, 10, at 2:49 p.m. on Saturday.

The relatively compact shop contains two rectangular tables, one circular table, a checkout counter and several bookcases. Clarkson arrives wearing a gray baseball cap, her hair in a messy bun, sunglasses and a navy Fjällräven Kånken backpack. She is dressed in baggy jeans and a yellow long-sleeved shirt pushed up to her elbows.

About six other customers, dressed casually in hoodies and carrying tote bags, are browsing when Clarkson enters.

The American Idol winner turns left and begins looking around with her children. She points out various items, glances at a framed poster and picks up a kaleidoscope that appears to be the $198 Super Giant Flower Wheels Kaleidoscope listed as sold out on Art of Play’s website.

At 2:50 p.m., Clarkson looks through the kaleidoscope from different angles for approximately 45 seconds. During that time, three more customers enter the store.

She sets the prism down, then picks it up again along with another item from the shelf before continuing clockwise around the shop.

At 2:52 p.m., Clarkson arrives at the wall display featuring Molly the mechanical bird.

The singer then appears to get the attention of a staff member wearing a beige baseball cap, glasses, a navy T-shirt, brown pants and sneakers. At 2:53 p.m., the employee walks several steps toward her while holding a mug.

The pair stand about 18 inches apart. Janine Driver, a renowned body-language expert, told the Daily Mail that the distance suggested “ordinary customer conversation,” rather than evidence of “a hostile invasion.”

Once he makes his way over, he’s seen crossing his ankles and leaning onto a table as Clarkson points to the bird.

In response, the staffer is seen gesturing and speaking to her for approximately 40 seconds before they part ways – Clarkson walking past him to continue through the store and the staff member turning left, making his way to the other side of the shop. There is no audio on the surveillance footage.

Halfway to the other side of the store, the shopkeeper turns back to Clarkson, pointing to something on the opposite wall. Clarkson, whose back is turned to the keeper, does not seem to hear him. When she eventually turns around, the shopkeeper is busy talking to another customer.

At 2.53pm, Clarkson then returns to the first shelf she was looking at and places down the two items she had been holding. This is one of the most interesting moments of the footage to Driver.

‘She doesn’t slam them down. She doesn’t toss them. She doesn’t send anything skidding across a shelf,’ the body language expert observed. ‘She puts them back incredibly gently.’

‘Kelly put those items back so gently, I’ve seen less tenderness at a christening. Could she have [been] hurt? Could she have been irritated? Both fit. What I can say is that this does not look like the uncontrolled merchandise-flinging performance some commentators seem to have imagined.’

As Clarkson heads to the exit, she stops just in front of the doorway, clasps her hands together and says something to the man at the cash register.

But even more subtle was the slight upper lip curl on Clarkson’s face – a facial expression that Driver said exhibits disgust.

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‘Think about how your face might respond to something you experience as offensive. We’re not necessarily talking about a bad smell. We may be talking about a social interaction that feels degrading,’ Driver told the Daily Mail.

It appears that the cashier does not hear Clarkson, but the couple standing between Clarkson and the cash register do. The male customer looks up from his conversation, glancing slightly awkwardly in Clarkson’s direction.

Clarkson continues into the doorway, but stops just as she leaves, turning around and gesturing at the cashier, who now acknowledges Clarkson. He appears to smile, nod and make his way closer to her on his side of the register, while Clarkson gestures wildly with her hands, a look of apparent scorn on her face. She speaks for about seven seconds before turning and exiting at 2.54pm.

The man at the cashier is seen pointing to the bird, but at this point, only Clarkson’s children remain in the store.

After her kids follow her out, the couple who was trapped between Clarkson and the register are seen reacting to the singer’s outburst – the woman peering through the window before making a stunned face, while the man shakes his head to himself.

Throughout the encounter, the shopkeeper who had initially answered Clarkson’s query about Molly is seen helping a different customer, seemingly oblivious to Clarkson’s aggressive exit. Driver noted that the man appeared much more animated and engaged with this customer than with Clarkson.

Surveillance footage outside of Art of Play shows Clarkson taking six steps outside of the store before pulling out her phone from her pocket at 2.54pm.

Fifteen minutes after Clarkson steps outside the store, she hits send on her tweet at 3.09pm.

‘Just drove all the way to Brooklyn to check out this store I thought looked really rad and had a few things in mind to buy and literally was looked at as if I couldn’t afford it and was told he could find something comparable for me,’ the tweet read.

‘Wow, dude. You’re an idiot and just lost a huge sale. But y’all should go check out Art of Play in Brooklyn if you enjoy being treated like Julia Roberts character in Pretty woman. For sure, check it out.’

In the 1990 rom com, Roberts’ character is turned away from an upscale retailer, where the saleswoman tells Roberts, ‘I don’t think we have anything for you. You’re obviously in the wrong place. Please leave.’ Roberts later returns to the store with an armful of shopping bags to tell the saleswoman, ‘Big mistake. Big. Huge.’

But overall, Clarkson’s agitation level was ‘nowhere near diva level,’ Driver says.

‘Frustration, perhaps a touch of exasperation. Not visible fury,’ Driver said. ‘Why? Deliberate movement. Gentle object handling. Compact gestures. No obvious physically uncontrolled outburst.’

On Sunday, Art of Play responded to Clarkson’s tweet, saying that Molly the bird ‘plays an important role’ at the store’s magic show, and thus ‘is permanently attached to the wall and isn’t for sale.’

‘It’s been a surreal experience to be the focus of such widespread outrage after just one mention by a celebrity,’ the store said in an Instagram post.

‘We’re going to keep our heads down and hopefully, we can clear things up with Kelly someday. As a talented popular singer once said ‘What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”

But rather than clear things up, Clarkson got messier, blasting Art of Play for spinning a ‘narrative’ around what had actually happened.

‘So the whole conversation we had when I asked you if it was for sale whilst pointing to the price tag hanging on the wall with the title Singing Bird didn’t happen as you elevator eyed me saying in a condescending tone, ‘Yes, it’s for sale but it costs 15,000 dollars so if you’d like me to find something comparable for you I can.’ That all never happened and now it’s not for sale,’ Clarkson said on X.

‘Okay, cool. So you’re not only rude, you’re also a liar. Got it.’

The store has since accused Clarkson of putting ‘us all in danger by using her platform, trying to squash us like a thug.’

Speaking to TMZ on Tuesday, Adam Rubin, a co-owner of Art of Play, which has since jokingly raised the price of Molly to $15 million, said the store has received thousands of threats and ‘hateful messages.’

‘We created this place to make people feel like kids again, anyone that walks through the door. We invite them to sit down, pick things up and play with them. It doesn’t matter if they’re going to make a purchase. It doesn’t matter if they’re wearing sweatpants, or they’re nine-years-old or they’re a celebrity that we don’t recognize,’ Rubin said. ‘They all get treated the same way.’

‘Kelly Clarkson’s problem is that she got treated like a normal person and because of that, her ego was bruised, and she decided to throw a f***king Molotov cocktail into our shop.’

Hilary Swank has opened up about becoming pregnant at 52, saying she has long trusted the belief that “things happen in their time, not ours.”

The Oscar-winning actress revealed on Wednesday that she is expecting her third child with husband Philip Schneider, 53. The couple became parents to twins Ohm and Aya three years ago.

After sharing the pregnancy announcement on Instagram, Hilary received an emotional wave of congratulations. Many women said her pregnancy in her fifties had renewed their hope that motherhood and other life dreams can still happen later than expected.

One follower wrote: “At 39, I’m still single and childless. You are literally giving me hope that the life I want could still happen for me.”

Hilary replied with an encouraging message, writing: “It can! I always go by the adage, things happen in their time, not ours, and that has always been the case for me.”

She added: “But of course trusting that, for me, has always been the hardest part. Wishing you unwavering trust and abundant beauty on your journey!”

In a 2025 interview with Women’s Health magazine, Hilary reflected on her fertility journey. She said she froze her eggs at 37, became pregnant with her twins at 47 and welcomed them at the age of 48.

“I would have had kids earlier. I’m not saying I actively waited until 47,” she explained. “But that was a magical time in my life, when it all culminated. It was the right time for myriad reasons.”

Hilary described being able to preserve her eggs for the future as one of the most significant steps she took while keeping open the possibility of becoming a mother. In her view, the option helped ease some of the pressure surrounding fertility and timing.

The actress also said she feels grateful to have become a mother later in life, adding that she does not believe she would have parented in the same way when she was younger.

“I’m a very different parent than I would’ve been, even in my early 40s,” she told the magazine.

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“I’m much more patient. I’m much more understanding. I am much more, I think, interested in a different way than I would’ve been.”

“I’m really interested in their brains. I’m fascinated about what makes them tick. And I have my career that’s already established, so I’m not divided.”

“I’m able to really sink in and be present with them and be a hands-on parent.”

Hilary won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 2005 after delivering an acclaimed performance in Clint Eastwood’s boxing drama Million Dollar Baby, which earned $216.8 million worldwide.

She married her husband, a “social venture entrepreneur,” in 2018. The pair first met on a blind date in November 2016, five months after Hilary called off a three-month engagement to former professional tennis player Ruben Torres.

The actress took to Instagram on Wednesday to post a cute video with the caption: ‘A lot of people have been asking what project I’m doing next, this one releases in December.’

She made her pregnancy announcement by participating in the TikTok dance trend of taping neon glowsticks onto dark clothing to create a glowing stick-figure.

Her husband Philip, 53, and their two children could be seen participating when the surprise was revealed as there was a small glowstick figure over her belly to reveal the pregnancy.