Beauty Pageant Official Drops Tyson Lawsuit

J. Morris Anderson, the founder of the Miss Black America Pageant dropped a $607-million lawsuit against Mike Tyson Wednesday, saying several contestants lied when they accused the former heavyweight champion of fondling them.

Anderson said two of the women “were telling outright lies specifically for the purpose of obtaining publicity.”

Anderson said he also had “second thoughts about participating in the crucifixion of a black role model.”

Anderson said he met with Tyson’s attorneys and agreed to settle the suit. He would not say whether any money was involved.

His lawsuit, filed in August in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, called Tyson a “serial buttocks fondler” and accused the fighter of molesting the 1990 Miss Black America and 10 of 23 contestants at the 1991 pageant, held in July in Indianapolis.

This case is separate from the one in which Tyson faces criminal charges of raping an 18-year-old contestant in his hotel room. That trial is set to start Jan. 27 in Indianapolis.