Hulk Hogan says he contemplated suicide shortly after his racist rant from several years ago went public last month, and the former WWE superstar is asking for forgiveness.
In an interview with Amy Robach of ABC News that aired on “Good Morning America” Monday, Hogan said he was “upset over a situation that happened” with his daughter Brooke and a man she was dating. He referred to the boyfriend using the N-word, which is a decision Hogan said left him alone without his children or estranged wife Linda.
“I was to the point where I wanted to kill myself, you know?” Hulk said, describing how he sat in a bathroom by himself. “I was completely broken and destroyed and said, ‘What’s the easiest way out of this?’ I mean, I was lost.”
Hogan insisted he is not racist but admitted he is “embarrassed” by what he said while his sex tape — which is the subject of a $100 million lawsuit from the wrestler — was being filmed. He said his use of the N-word is a product of where he grew up.
“I’m not a racist but I never should have said what I said. It was wrong. I’m embarrassed by it,” Hogan explained. “People need to realize that you inherit things from your environment. And where I grew up was south Tampa, Port Tampa, and it was a really rough neighborhood, very low income. And all my friends, we greeted each other saying that word.”
Hogan made similar comments during a radio interview in 2012. He used the N-word during that interview as well, and many people initially believed that was the reason he had been fired by the WWE. It quickly became clear that Hogan made far worse comments, including some that were homophobic in nature.
“Oh, my gosh. Please forgive me. Please forgive me,” Hulk said when asked about letting down his fans. “I think if you look at the whole picture of who Hulk Hogan is, you can see over all the years that there’s not a racist bone in my body.
“I’m a nice guy. It’s not, you know, not the Hulk Hogan that rips a shirt off and bang, bang, bang, slams giants, you know? I’m Terry Bollea.”
Hogan went on to discuss how his daughter Brooke’s support for him never wavered, as we saw with this poem she wrote. Hulk has also received support from other WWE superstars, though what he said is pretty inexcusable. The comments he made are hard to forget, no matter how sorry Hogan truly is.
