Defending himself from his former co-workers' accusation that he stole their stories for the film, the 'Dear John' star says, 'Those guys have been trying to make money off of me.'
- Jun 25, 2012
AceShowbiz - Channing Tatum has defended himself over the accusation that he stole his former fellow strippers' life story for "Magic Mike". When attending a press junket for the film on Saturday, June 23, Tatum claimed that the complaint was baseless.
"Those guys have been trying to make money off of me since I got into this business," Tatum said of his former co-workers. The "Dear John" thesp went on insisting that the characters in "Magic Mike" are not based on real people.
"Look, there's nothing that's factual in this whole movie other than that I was an 18-year-old kid and went into this world and I dropped out of college from playing football and was living on my sister's couch," the actor stated.
"There's not one character that I took from my real life; this is just a world that I went into, and I had a perspective on. And we created everything from a fictional place."
The husband of Jenna Dewan, however, made it clear that he didn't mean to "say anything bad" about his former fellow strippers because "they're part of the reason why I think this world is so interesting." He added, "They're very interesting, intriguing and bizarre characters, and I'm thankful for weird people out there. They're some of the most creative people."
Previously, two former male strippers, who once worked with Tatum, told TMZ that the "21 Jump Street" actor used their story without permission. The two men, Thomas "Awesome" Austin and London Steele, were upset because Tatum didn't consult with them or involve them in the movie.
Austin additionally claimed that he invented stripper-moves like "The Hot Seat", which is featured in the movie. Austin, who claimed to have put Tatum under his wings, said that the actor was an "amateur" when he met him and that "he only danced for 4 months. How many events could have happened to him?"
"Magic Mike" will be released in the U.S. on June 29. Also rounding up the cast ensemble are Alex Pettyfer, Cody Horn, Olivia Munn, Joe Manganiello, Matthew McConaughey, Matthew Bomer and Riley Keough.
