Fitness influencer Joey Swoll triggers outrage with unapologetic Hulk Hogan TikTok video comeback
Fitness influencer Joey Swoll has returned to social media after facing heavy backlash over a tribute video he posted for late wrestling star Hulk Hogan. Joey Swoll, whose real name is Joey Sergo, shared a new video on TikTok on Friday, August 1, telling his 8 million followers that he's not quitting and won't let anyone cancel him.
The video comes just four days after he went silent online. Swoll had earlier said goodbye to his fans after being criticized for honoring Hulk Hogan, who passed away on July 24.
Joey Swoll defends
Hulk Hogan tribute
in
TikTok comeback
after four-day break
Joey Swoll, 42, had posted an old video where he dressed up like Hulk Hogan, the famous WWE legend, whose real name was Terry Bollea. Swoll said the costume was actually a gift from Hogan himself. The tribute went viral but also upset many people online.
Critics brought up past controversies linked to Hogan, and some fans were angry that Swoll chose to honor him.
Hulk Hogan died from a heart attack on July 24, 2025, as confirmed by the Pinellas County Forensic Science Center and reported by Page Six. After facing online backlash, Swoll deleted the video and shared an apology saying,
'I did not know all the horrible, horrible things that man has done.'
He then shared a goodbye post on July 29, saying he was done with social media.
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'All the good I've done, all the people I've helped, all for nothing,'
he wrote.
Joey Swoll says fans inspired him to return: 'I'm not going anywhere'
On August 1, 2025, Joey Swoll came back to TikTok and posted a new video from inside his car, a familiar place where he often films his gym positivity clips. In this new video, Swoll called out a gym bully who mocked a woman working out. A message popped up on screen:
'Don't you wish we had someone to call out bullies in the gym?'
Swoll appeared and said
, 'I'm that someone and I'm not going anywhere.'
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He also shared that thousands of people messaged him while he was gone, asking him to return.
'Messages giving me the good kick in the a– that I needed to get back up,'
he said. Swoll ended by saying he will keep calling out gym bullies and won't stop spreading his message.
'My message is do better, NOT be perfect,'
he wrote.
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