Givens Files Defamation Suit Against Tyson

Actress Robin Givens, who sought a divorce from boxer Mike Tyson and said she did not want his money, filed a $125-million defamation suit in federal court Wednesday against the heavyweight champion.

Givens charged in the suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, that a Nov. 7 interview of Tyson in the New York Post was “false, defamatory, malicious and libelous” and called it “heinous and inhuman treatment.”

Neither Tyson nor his attorneys could be reached immediately for comment. The Post, which was not named as a defendant in the suit, had no comment.

The suit cites quotes from the Post story, including: “(Robin’s) got no respect for me or anyone else . . . I gave her love--and then she stabbed me in the back . . . and she stole money from me when we were together. . . . She stole from me and she said I beat her up.”

Referring to Givens and her mother, Ruth Roper, Tyson was alleged to have said: “These two are the slime of the slime . . . and anyone associated with them is slime. . . . They tried to turn me into an imbecile. They got enough already from me.”

Givens said in the suit that because of Tyson’s actions she was “held up to public contempt, ridicule, embarrassment, disgrace and prejudice; has suffered great mental pain and anguish; has been irreparably injured in her good name, business reputation, professional reputation and social standing; and has lost the esteem and respect of her friends, acquaintances, business associates and of the public generally.”