Tyson is seen leaning on the back of his chair and repeatedly hitting the man in the head. This video draws blood. TMZ shared the footage for the first time. It said that it was taken on a Jet Blue flight bound for Florida.
“Unfortunately, Mr. Tyson was harassed by an aggressive passenger and threw a waterbottle at him while he sat in his seat,” Tyson’s representatives stated in an email to The Associated Press.
The video shows the man standing over Tyson’s chair, waving his arms, and talking animatedly, before the altercation.
Officials said that around 10 p.m., San Francisco police responded to a “physical altercation” on a plane at the domestic terminal.
“Officers arrived on the scene and arrested two suspects in the incident. One person was treated on the spot for injuries not life-threatening. The subject did not provide any details and refused to cooperate with police investigations,” police stated in a Thursday statement.
The statement stated that both were released in the midst of further investigation.
Sarah Burchfield, another passenger on the flight, stated that she saw Tyson punching at an airport bar earlier and was loudly quarreling with him.
“When I boarded my flight, I thought, ‘Oh, no! That drunk guy is on our plane,’” Burchfield said to SFGate.
Burchfield stated that Tyson was sitting in Tyson’s first-class section when she boarded the plane.
She said, “The belligerent man was sitting right next to him and I could see they were inter-acting.” She said that she heard the first class confrontation a short while later.
The video was shared by the San Francisco Police Department with the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office. This office has jurisdiction over the airport.
Officials from the Sheriff’s Office stated that they would not release information about the incident as it is still under investigation.
JetBlue did not immediately respond to my email seeking more information.
Tyson, 55 years old, has been an actor, podcaster, and cannabis entrepreneur since retiring from boxing. SFGate reported that he was in San Francisco to promote his Tyson 2.0 cannabis brand at the annual 420 cannabis festival.
Tyson, then aged 20, became the youngest ever heavyweight champion. He won 50 victories, 44 by knockout.
After being convicted for rape in the 1990s, Tyson spent three years in prison. In that case, he has maintained his innocence.
After infamously biting off a part of Evander Holyfield’s ear in 1997, Tyson was temporarily barred from boxing.
