Fitness influencer Joey Swoll fires back at critics, returns to social media after Hulk Hogan tribute backlash: ‘Not going to cancel me'
Swoll, the 'CEO of Gym Positivity,' was back online on Friday — four days after he was run off his platform — as he called out gym bullies, but not before he lashed out against critics over his now-viral post.
'Love me or hate me, I am not going anywhere and you are not going to cancel me,' Swoll told his 8 million TikTok followers.
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'I am not quitting and I am done apologizing,' he declared, ending the short-lived social hiatus.
5 Fitness influencer Joey Swoll addresses his followers in his return to social media on Aug. 1, 2025.
Joey Swoll/X
Swoll, whose real name is Joey Sergo, said some of his followers confronted him for dressing up as the mustachioed wrestling icon in an old video he reposted in tribute to Hogan, who died on July 24.
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The costume was an apparent gift from the Hulkster, born Terry Bollea, to Swoll.
Hogan died of a heart attack, according to the Pinellas County Forensic Science Center records obtained by Page Six.
Online critics were appalled by the fitness influencer for honoring the WWE legend, not realizing the scope of his various scandals.
5 Swoll wears a Hulk Hogan costume in a tribute video posted on July 25, 2025, a day after the WWE legend's death. on
Joey Swoll/X
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5 Hulk Hogan riles up the crowd during a WWE event at the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tennessee on April 27, 2007.
George Napolitano / SplashNews.com
Swoll, 42, deleted the video and apologized to the mob for not knowing all of the 'horrible, horrible things that man has done,' he said in an apology video to his various accounts.
He had said he was 'done' with his internet persona in a goodbye message posted on July 29.
'All the good I've done, all the people I've helped, all for nothing. I truly hope all the people I've inspired do great things in their life and pay it forward to help others and carry on my message,' he wrote. 'But no matter how much good you do, people just wait for a reason to hate you and tear you down. You either die a hero, or live long enough to be the villain. Thank you for your support. I am done.'
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My message is do better, NOT be perfect. pic.twitter.com/3NjnGMxu6R — Joey Swoll (@TheJoeySwoll) August 1, 2025
The influencer's various social media platforms, which boast nearly 17 million combined followers, were silent until he returned Friday afternoon to call out another gym bully who mocked a woman working out behind her.
'Don't you wish we had someone to call out bullies in the gym?' a text bubble asked inside Swoll's empty car, which served a familiar backdrop for his videos.
Swoll appeared in frame and proclaimed he was the one to call out the bullies and was not going anywhere.
'I just needed a few days to step back, to breathe, to get my mind right,' he said.
5 Joey Swoll addresses his social media followers following backlash to his tribute to Hulk Hogan in a video posted on July 28, 2025.
Joey Swoll/X
5 The New York Post front cover on July 25, 2025.
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The influencer said he received thousands of messages from people telling him not to quit, as others told him he was an inspiration to them.
'Messages giving me the good kick in the a– that I needed to get back up,' Swoll said.
Swoll warned his haters that he would continue to call out 'bullies,' being a voice for the defenseless and advocating for the gym community and the world to be a better place.
'My message is do better, NOT be perfect,' Swoll captioned the post.
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