An old footage of Hulk Hogan cutting a racist promo has resurfaced online.
Late WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan faced massive criticism when a leaked tape in 2015 showed him making some extremely racist comments and accepting he was “a racist, to a point.” The backlash to that video followed him until his final days.
Now, a video of an old promo has resurfaced on X/Twitter, in which Hulk Hogan, being interviewed by Vince McMahon, addresses WWE Hall of Famer Tony Atlas. He made some controversial remarks during the promo, calling Atlas a spider monkey who’s only better than him at eating watermelons.
The video has gone viral and is getting some mixed reactions from other users. While some people noted the times were different when Hulk Hogan made those comments, others believe that it was never (or shouldn’t have been) appropriate.
Vince McMahon commented on Hulk Hogan’s racist comments
Appearing as part of a recent TMZ documentary on Hulk Hogan after the latter’s passing, former WWE Chairman Vince McMahon shared his reaction to Hogan’s racist comments from the leaked tape.
“It was unforgivable and I was agasp, ‘What happened?'” McMahon said. “When those things occurred, that’s not like him. ‘What in God’s name is going on?'”
“As soon as it happened, obviously, the company didn’t have anything to do with him anymore. We took him out of the Hall of Fame. You just don’t do those things.”
However, Vince McMahon defended his decision to rehire Hulk Hogan after the controversy. McMahon said Hogan wasn’t a racist, but just said some racist things.
“I knew he wasn’t racist. I’ve been with him for so many years. He wasn’t racist. He said some racist things. He should pay for that, and he did. In the end, I think everyone saw the real Hulk Hogan, Terry Bollea, and they felt, ‘Wait a minute, this guy doesn’t act like a racist. He’s not a racist.’ We all make mistakes. That was a big one, but he wasn’t a racist.” [H/T Fightful]
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