Peloton responds to yet another TV character's heart attack on its bike
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Warning: This article contains spoilers about Sunday's season 6 premiere of Billions.
Peloton has been thrown under the bus (bike?) again.
During Sunday night's season 6 premiere of Billions on Showtime, Mike "Wags" Wagner (David Costabile) suffered a heart attack while riding his Peloton spin bike.
This isn't the first time a fictional character has had cardiac problems after spinning. In the series premiere of HBO Max's And Just Like That, Big (Chris Noth) also went into cardiac arrest while working out on his Peloton stationary bike. Unlike in the Sex and the City revival, Wagner survived and later even referenced the AJLT scene, telling staff, "I'm not going out like Mr. Big."
Jeff Neumann/SHOWTIME David Costabile as Mike "Wags" Wagner on Showtime's "Billions."
Regardless of Wagner's fate, Peloton isn't thrilled by the placement of their product. A spokesperson for the company issued a statement obtained by EW.
"We get why these fictional TV shows would want to include a brand that people love to talk about, but Showtime's use of Peloton's Bike+ and reference to a Peloton Instructor was not a brand, product, or instructor placement, and we did not agree for our brand and IP to be used on this show or provide any equipment," the statement reads. "As referenced by the show itself, there are strong benefits of cardio-vascular exercise to help people lead long, happy lives."
In an interview with The Times, Billions' executive producers shared that the scene was filmed in spring 2021, prior to AJLT's premiere, and that they overdubbed the line about AJLT in postproduction, telling the publication, "We added the line because it was what Wags would say."
Joe Raedle/Getty Images Peloton is answering after a second heart attack on one of it's bikes.
Peloton's guest spot in the AJLT premiere caused the brand massive PR problems and the company saw its stock drop after the episode aired. In a bid to counteract, Peloton quickly produced a commercial featuring Noth cozying up in front of the fire with his Peloton instructor. The viral ad, which was only in circulation online, was pulled just days later after sexual assault allegations against the actor were published by The Hollywood Reporter. In a statement, the actor called the accusations "categorically false." Shortly after, two more women came forward with similar allegations.
"Every single sexual assault accusation must be taken seriously," a Peloton spokesperson said in a statement provided to EW at the time. "We were unaware of these allegations when we featured Chris Noth in our response to HBO's reboot. As we seek to learn more, we have stopped promoting this video and archived related social posts."
Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.
Related content
