Billions Character Suffers from Peloton-Induced Heart Attack Weeks After Mr. Big Controversy

Just weeks after taking the life of Sex and the City’s Mr. Big, Peloton has found itself in the midst of a second heart-attack controversy.

Editor’s note: what follows might be a spoiler for any fans of Billionst hat have not yet seen last night’s episode, so consider yourself warned…

In a scene that the series’ executive producers vowed was a coincidence, Billions character Mike “Wags” Wagner, played by David Costabile, is shown suffering from a heart attack while riding his Peloton exercise bike.

Unlike the fate of Chris Noth’s Big, however, Wags survives the attack, later making a triumphant reference to And Just Like That’s shocking death.

“I’m not going out like Mr. Big,” Wags says to his employees, clearly joking about Big’s death in the season premiere of the Sex and the City reboot.

According to a statement to the New York Times, the scene was written and shot last spring, well before the premiere of And Just Like That, while the line referencing Big’s death was later added in post-production.

“We added the line because it was what Wags would say,” they said in the statement.

Peloton also released a statement on the scene, stressing that Peloton did not approve its use in the Showtime series:

We get TV shows want to include @onepeloton to get people talking, but to be clear, we did *not* agree for our brand or IP to be used on @SHO_Billions or provide any equipment. As the show itself points out, cardio-vascular exercise helps people lead long, happy lives.

— Peloton (@onepeloton) January 23, 2022

“We get TV shows want to include [Peloton] to get people talking, but to be clear, we did *not* agree for our brand or IP to be used on [Billions] or provide any equipment,” read the statement. “As the show itself points out, cardio-vascular exercise helps people lead long, happy lives.”

Unlike the 11 percent stock drop that Peloton saw following Big’s death, at the time of writing, the company’s stock is up roughly one percent.

But the slight spike in today’s stock might not mean much for Peloton, as CNBC reported Thursday that the company was considering halting production of its low-end bike for two months due to waning consumer demand.

CEO John Foley denied the report, labeling “rumors that we are halting all production of bikes and Treads” as “false.”