Many people are mourning the loss of Hulk Hogan after he passed away last week at 71 years old. Some of them now say they were unaware that Hogan made headlines for his racist remarks.
Actor/podcaster Michael Rapaport is one of many people who posted tributes to Hogan after news of his passing was made public. Like others, Rapaport talked about the positive things Hogan did for pro wrestling. This includes talking about how Hogan was an icon and a hero to millions of fans. However, he says he didn’t know about Hogan’s use of racist slurs until after he posted his video.
My now somehow “controversial” Hulk Hogan rant — where I clearly said I knew he had some controversy but didn’t know what it was — is catching heat.
— MichaelRapaport (@MichaelRapaport) July 28, 2025
Let me be crystal clear:
I had no clue about the N-word tape until after I posted it.
And judging by the hundreds of positive… pic.twitter.com/j1ddrYWEEQ
Rapaport posted multiple videos in response to people criticizing him, accusing him of defending Hogan’s racist remarks. Rapaport says he recorded the original video two hours after Hogan died. He also said he did not fact-check his video. Rapaport says he never would have recorded it if he had known about Hulk Hogan’s ‘N-word controversy.”
Michael Rapaport would’ve done things differently if he knew about Hulk Hogan’s racism controversy
“When I did my now-controversial Hulk Hogan video two hours after he passed — right after he passed — I saw all of this derogatory stuff about his association with Trump. And I said in the video, what we’re not going to do is disrespect somebody who brought so much joy to the world. In the video, I also said he was involved with some controversy and I wasn’t aware of it. I’m not a Hulk Hogan ‘superfan.’ I’m not a wrestling head, I’m not a Hulk Hogan documentarian. I don’t know everything about the life and times of Hulk Hogan. I was not aware at the time, from the bottom of my heart, that he was involved with that racial controversy, the N-word controversy.
“Obviously, if I knew that at the time, I wouldn’t have done the video, or my video would have been a lot different. I have openly condemned racism, sexism, anti-semitism, all of that on this platform with my face on wax, have you? I have spoken out loud and proud since this platform came into existence about George Floyd, ‘I can’t breathe,’ Charlottesville, LGBTQ, women’s rights, every single person’s rights with my face on wax over an over again. Again, I did not know about the remarks Hulk Hogan made. I don’t fact-check these videos that a lot of time people love and repost,” he added. “I even called his 24-inch pythons ‘18-inch pythons’; I clearly didn’t do any research.”
Rapaport closed by saying he doesn’t ever want to offend anyone. He also doesn’t want to tell people what they should or shouldn’t be upset about.
Read More: WWE Talent Calls Out Hypocrisy Of Celebrating Hulk Hogan After Racist Remarks
Michael Rapaport says he didn’t know about Hulk Hogan’s racist remarks before defending the late wrestler’s name pic.twitter.com/EszsW9EncH
— The Art Of Dialogue (@ArtOfDialogue_) July 29, 2025
