Vince McMahon defends bringing Hulk Hogan back to WWE after ‘unforgivable' comments
McMahon, who resigned from WWE and parent company TKO in January 2024 after a sexual misconduct lawsuit was filed against him by a former company employee, addressed his reaction to comments Hogan made during a sex tape and what happened in the aftermath during an interview for TMZ's special on the Hulkster that aired Tuesday night on Fox.
McMahon had no issues bringing Hogan, who died at 71 in July, back to the WWE Hall of Fame and the company's programming in 2018 after the multi-time world champion had paid a price in his eyes.
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'I knew he wasn't racist. I've been with him for so many years. He wasn't a racist. He said some racist things. He should pay for that, and he did,' McMahon said on 'TMZ Presents: The Real Hulk Hogan.' '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.'
3 Vince McMahon defended bringing Hulk Hogan back to WWE.
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In the 2007 sex tape that leaked in 2015, Hogan can be heard using the N-word multiple times and saying: 'I guess we're all a little racist.'
There is also audio of a 2008 conversation with his son Nick in prison, during which Hogan used racist language.
3 Vince McMahon and Hulk Hogan
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Hogan's good friend Jimmy Hart also stated to TMZ that he did not believe Hogan was a racist. McMahon, who, along with Hogan, built WWE into a global wrestling power in the 1980s, could not believe the comments he heard from Hogan on the sex tape.
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'It was unforgivable and I was aghast, 'What happened?'' McMahon said. 'When those things occurred, that's not like him. 'What in God's name is going on?''
It left WWE no choice but to shun Hogan.
'As soon as it happened, obviously, the company didn't have anything to do with him anymore,' McMahon said. 'We took him out of the Hall of Fame. You just don't do those things.'
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Hogan had called it a 'glitch' and made attempts to apologize for his comments, but some, like former WWE star Mark Henry, have felt the legend did not go far enough to make things right. Henry refused to defend what Hogan said, but added that he offered Hogan and McMahon the idea of the Hulkster appearing at black colleges to help fix the situation at the time.
3 Hulk Hogan appears at WrestleMania 30 at the Superdome on April 6, 2014 in New Orleans.
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'Go and talk to them and be honest with your apology. He [Hogan] was like, 'I've been advised not to talk about it no more.' I said, 'I think that's bad advice,' Henry told TMZ.
McMahon, who has been persona non grata around WWE and its new parent company TKO after the lawsuit against him, was also asked if he had mixed emotions about not being invited to take part in any of the tributes WWE had for Hogan after his passing.
'It struck me that way as well,' McMahon said.
He called Hogan's death a blow to my heart and was angry that his friend was booed during his last WWE appearance.
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