‘I’m Not A Racist,’ Claims Disgraced WWE Reject Hulk Hogan

Former WWE wrestling star Hulk Hogan, while speaking in an interview with People magazine, said “I am not a racist. I made one horrible mistake.”

This statement comes following the release back in July, of audio transcripts of a conversation in which he engaged in using racist comments with daughter Brooke Hogan. In these transcripts, Hulk Hogan can be heard using the racist slur commonly referred to as “the n word,” on more than one occasion in a heated argument with his daughter. His current insistence that “I am not a racist,” is too little too late for many, however. His former employers at the World Wrestling Entertainment corporation ended Hogan’s contract and all promotion of him in any capacity upon the release of these racist comments. They even went so far as to remove Hogan from the WWE Hall of Fame in what would appear to be a statement on their part that racist slurs are unbecoming of a WWE Hall of Fame inductee.

Hogan insists that his use of this racist language in those conversations with daughter Brooke were simply made in anger at his daughter and are not reflective of who he truly is. Hogan went on in this interview to lay the blame of using such racist language on his upbringing saying, “When I grew up, it was something that was inherited generation after generation.” Daughter Brooke also came to his defense as well stating, “I know who he is as a man and a father and he is not a racist”

Even former WWE champion Chris Jericho has stated his belief that Hogan is not a racist in an interview with Mark Lamont Hill on HuffPost Live saying, “…Hulk’s not like that.” Former wrestling manager and booker Jim Cornette stated that Hogan may not be a racist, but that Hogan likely just used the wrong words out of frustration. Hogan went on to state that knowing son Nick and wife Jennifer are standing by him through this has allowed him to “take this head on.”

Hogan claims that he is now ready for the best time of his life, seeming to think that these racist comments he made are now behind him. Hogan seems to have shrugged off the label of racist by his own accounts and seems to feel that his statement that he “is not a racist” will put an end to the controversy over his statements made eight years ago. And it would seem that many of his family and friends are by his side in trying to rebuild his image and undo the damage that his racist comments have done.

There are still many, however, that will likely not simply accept his self-professed statement of “I am not a racist” as the end of the discussion. At a time when racial tensions are high in the United States, Hogan’s simple statement that he is not a racist may come across as little more than an cop-out. His statement that being raised in a generation where such racist language was common seems to offer an excuse for the racist comments. One might wonder if Hogan is truly sorry for having used this racist language, or whether he is simply sorry he got caught.

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