Joe Rogan had a message for the man who Mike Tyson punched on a plane Wednesday: He had it coming.
On Saturday’s episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience,” podcaster and comedian Dan Soder called out Melvin Townsend III for instigating the violent incident on the flight and not expecting the former heavyweight champion to retaliate.
“It’s real simple, that dude was a douchebag. He was annoying one of the baddest motherf–kers that’s ever walked the face of the Earth,” Rogan said.
“Talk about kicking a beehive,” Soder replied. “What the f–k are you doing, dude?”
“It’s so dumb! It’s not even kicking a beehive, it’s like smashing, it’s headbutting a beehive,” Rogan responded.
On a JetBlue flight from San Francisco to Miami, Townsend — a fan of Tyson’s — reportedly harassed Tyson and would not leave the boxer-turned-cannabis-entrepreneur alone. According to Tyson’s representatives, the incident escalated when Townsend threw a water bottle at Tyson, leading Iron Mike to repeatedly punch Townsend in the head. Townsend denies throwing anything at Tyson.
Rogan added that fans need to learn that celebrities are people as well and often do not want to be stopped on the street.
“If you find yourself where Mike Tyson’s reaching over the back of an airline seat and punching you in the face, I think you probably earned it,” said Rogan, who recently appeared on Tyson’s “Hotboxin'” podcast.
“People get crazy. They think just because he’s Mike Tyson, he’s famous, he can’t just punch you. You’re annoying him! He’s gonna just f–king hit you like a normal person would.”
Social media star and boxer Jake Paul had similar sentiments to Rogan when reacting to the clip.
“If you’re being heckled in public like Mike Tyson was you should legally get a hall pass to beat someone’s ass,” Paul said.
Since the video went viral on Thursday, Townsend has hired an attorney, but has yet to take any legal action against Tyson.