In 1988, the actress Robin Givens and her husband Mike Tyson, the heavyweight champion of the world, gave a television interview to Barbara Walters addressing persistent tabloid rumors that their marriage was violent. In a stunningly honest moment, Givens admitted, with Tyson by her side, that she was tormented by her husband's physical abuse. In this episode, Susie and Jess revisit that interview, the vicious public response and what it revealed about what it means to be a victim in America.

FOR MORE:
Mike Tyson And Robin Givens Are Interviewed Amid Rumors (ABC News)
Robin's Sad Song (People, 1988)
The Woman America Loves To Hate (Sun Sentinel, 1988)
Through the Storm: Robin Givens (Essence, 2020)

In 1988, the actress Robin Givens and her husband Mike Tyson, the heavyweight champion of the world, gave a television interview to Barbara Walters addressing persistent tabloid rumors that their marriage was violent. In a stunningly honest moment, Givens admitted, with Tyson by her side, that she was tormented by her husband's physical abuse. In this episode, Susie and Jess revisit that interview, the vicious public response and what it revealed about what it means to be a victim in America.
FOR MORE:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/video/mike-tyson-robin-givens-interviewed-amid-rumors-part-77906329">Mike Tyson And Robin Givens Are Interviewed Amid Rumors</a> (ABC News)</li>
<li><a href="https://people.com/archive/cover-story-robins-sad-song-vol-30-no-25/">Robin's Sad Song</a> (People, 1988)</li>
<li aria-level="2"><a href="https://www.sun-sentinel.com/1988/10/27/the-woman-america-loves-to-hate-the-soon-to-be-ex-mrs-tyson-has-asked-for-no-sympathy-and-none-will-be-given/">The Woman America Loves To Hate</a> (Sun Sentinel, 1988)</li>
<li aria-level="2"><a href="https://www.essence.com/news/through-the-storm-robin-givens/">Through the Storm: Robin Givens </a>(Essence, 2020)</li>
</ul>

Is there a cultural moment from your past that looks different in retrospect? Maybe it’s a scandalous tabloid story seared into your teenage brain or a political punchline that just feels wrong now. It might be a very specific red swimsuit that inspired a decade of plastic surgery (see: “Baywatch”) or the inescapable smell of an entire generation of prepubescent boys (Axe body spray, anyone?). Each week on IN RETROSPECT, Emmy-winning journalist Susie Banikarim and New York Times editor Jessica Bennett revisit a pop culture moment from the 80s and 90s that shaped them — to try to understand what it taught us about the world, and a woman’s place in it.

Talk to us at @inretropod, @susiebnyc and @jessicabennett on Instagram. New episodes each Friday.

Is there a cultural moment from your past that looks different in retrospect? Maybe it’s a scandalous tabloid story seared into your teenage brain or a political punchline that just feels wrong now. It might be a very specific red swimsuit that inspired a decade of plastic surgery (see: “Baywatch”) or the inescapable smell of an entire generation of prepubescent boys (Axe body spray, anyone?). Each week on IN RETROSPECT, Emmy-winning journalist Susie Banikarim and New York Times editor Jessica Bennett revisit a pop culture moment from the 80s and 90s that shaped them — to try to understand what it taught us about the world, and a woman’s place in it.
Talk to us at @inretropod, @susiebnyc and @jessicabennett on Instagram. New episodes each Friday.

In Retrospect with Susie Banikarim and Jessica Bennett

The Vilification of Robin Givens (Pt 1)

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/d4588426-c145-4392-b60a-b0d1015588ab/transcript

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