For many years, a photograph of a boxer has been circulating on the Internet with traces of some white powder visible on his nose and upper lip. We have verified the authenticity of this image.
This photo has been popular on the RuNet for at least ten years. For example, in May 2014 on the Pikabu website her posted with the caption: “Typical photo of Mike Tyson during a party in the 80s.” Then the post received almost 500 upvotes. Many similar publications with this photograph can be found in “VKontakte" So, in 2020, public recording Moments of History received 20,000 views, and in 2023 the community post “Look what I found out” received more than 69,000 views. Moreover, it also specified the specific year when the viral photo was taken—supposedly 1988. Moreover, most often in such publications, users do not directly mention drugs, but make veiled jokes that a white spot on an athlete’s lip remains after he drank milk (examples here And here) or ate donuts with powdered sugar (here And here). Such posts are also common in Telegram channels (here, here And here) and on Facebook* (here, here And here). In November 2024, English-speaking tweet This photo has received more than 55 million views.
Scandals have accompanied Tyson throughout his adult life and sports career, and a considerable part of them are related to the use of prohibited substances. For example, in December 2006, the boxer’s car was stopped by police and during a search they found cocaine and traces of marijuana. Later Tyson admitted pleaded guilty to drug possession and drunk driving. Former heavyweight champion sentenced to 24 hours in jail, three years probation and 360 hours of community service. In his 2013 autobiography, The Undeniable Truth, Tyson toldthat during the height of his career he used a fake penis to avoid failing drug tests. According to him, with the help of this device, instead of his own urine, he gave the urine of his wife and small child. According to a 2019 interview, due to drugs, Iron Mike forgot, that he should star in the film “The Hangover” (2009), and also on the set appeared under the influence of cocaine.
And although Tyson actually used a lot of drugs, the viral image we are interested in was edited. Using a reverse image search, “Verified” found original photographs on the website of the American photo agency Getty Images. According to the description, the photographer captured the boxer at a party in honor of the launch of Janet Jackson's music album The Velvet Rope in Culver City, California. Moreover, the event took place not in 1988, but on September 9, 1997. In the original photo, no traces of white powder are visible under the athlete's nose.
Moreover, upon careful comparison of the original with the fake, you will notice that the athlete’s eyes have also undergone changes. So, in the viral version of the photo, Tyson’s proteins are shown very red - this is one of signs cocaine use.
On the Getty Images website you can find and others pictures with Tyson, taken by other people at the same party, but none of the photographs show any traces of white powder either.
Thus, for many years, an altered photograph of Mike Tyson has been distributed on the Internet, in which, using a photo editor, the boxer not only added traces of cocaine to his face, but also added redness to his eyes. In addition, publications with fabricated images often indicate the wrong year of the event.
*Russian authorities think Meta Platforms Inc., which owns the social network Facebook, is an extremist organization; its activities and symbols are prohibited in Russia.
Cover photo: social networks
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