Tearful Wrestling legend, Hulk Hogan asks the nation for forgiveness and apologizes for N-word rant, insists he is not a racist and blames his poor upbringing for his use of the term
In a Monday morning interview, American professional wrestler and actor, Terry Gene Bollea, better known by his ring name Hulk Hogan, broke his silence on the racism row he says has left his entire wrestling career completely erased from the history books.
He was exposed for using the N-word in a video leaked by gossip site Gawker. Hulk now told Good Morning America he's now at an all-time low as he begged his former legion of fans to take him back.
'Please forgive me,' the 12-time world champ pleaded - both to America as a whole and to his daughter Brooke Hogan, whose black boyfriend was the focus of the 62-year-old's racist tirade.
At one point during the interview, Hulk asked that taping stop as he choked up and began to cry at the mention of his daughter's role in the controversy. 'If anybody should have disowned me it should have been her, I was upset about something that happened between her and her boyfriend.'
Hogan went on to blame his upbringing in a poor south Tampa neighborhood for his use of racist language. 'People need to realize that you inherit things from your environment, And where I grew up...Port Tampa...was a really rough neighborhood, very low income. And all my friends, we greeted each other saying that word.'
Hogan called it 'fair' to say he'd inherited a racial bias. 'I would say that is very fair. I think that was part of the culture and the environment I grew up in and I think that's fair to say.'
'I was completely broken and destroyed and said, 'What's the easiest way out of this?' I mean, I was lost. I've worked for the WWE for almost 30 years off and on...and then all of a sudden, everything I've done my whole career and my whole life was like it never happened.'
Hogan is currently seeking $100 million from Gawker for posting part of the sex tape of him with Heather Cole, the ex-wife of Hogan's one-time friend and radio show host Bubba the Love Sponge Clem.
