Chris Jericho is the latest wrestler to speak out regarding Hulk Hogan and his racist comments that left him terminated from his position within the WWE last Friday.
Jericho discussed the controversy on the most recent episode of his podcast Talk Is Jerichowhere he also interviewed “Mr. Belding” aka Dennis Haskins of “Saved By The Bell.”
“All I know is that Hulk has always been a nice guy to me and I’ve seen him sign hundreds and hundreds of autographs for kids, waiting for an airplane and I was there standing next to him,” Jericho explained.
“It doesn’t excuse what he said. I’m not saying anything about that. I’m just saying I think he has got a good heart and was maybe caught in the wrong place, saying things that he shouldn’t have said, but all you can say is that I hope Hulk rebounds and comes back from this and I hope he digs down deep inside and finds out what kind of a person he really is.”
“And I think, if he can do that, then people will get a chance to see the real Hulk and terrible, terrible situation and Hulk should not have put himself in that position. Like I said, man, it’s a tough thing. A lot of times, friends do things that you wish they hadn’t have done, but you don’t abandon them completely.”
Chris Jericho also shared his thoughts on The Miz replacing Hulk Hogan as a judge on Tough Enough and admitted that he believes the show now has “more energy than it had before.”
“[I’m] sorry to see Hulk Hogan go, but I think in the long run, Miz might not have the tenure that Hulk has, but he has more personality in the soundbites and maybe a little bit more passion,” Jericho said.
You can listen to the full interview with Dennis Haskins of “Saved By The Bell” on Talk Is Jerichoby clicking on this link.
While promoting the HBO dramedy series Ballers at the Television Critics Association’s press tour in Beverly Hills, California on Thursday, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was asked about Hulk Hogan (real name Terry Bollea), whose termination from WWE last week coincided with the publication by the National Enquirer and Radar Online of racist remarks allegedly made by the wrestling legend on a leaked sex tape.
“I was pretty disappointed with what I heard, like all of us, by the way,” said Johnson. “I’ve known Terry for a lot of years, my dad helped train him in Florida in the ’70s when he was breaking into the business. My uncles helped train him too as well. I have not known the man to be racist.”
Johnson adds that while there’s no justification for what Hogan said, he believes everyone has “talked trash,” especially in private.
“It’s funny, it’s one of those things where—and not justifying what he said—we’ve all talked trash, especially in private,” said Johnson. “He said what he said, and he’s paying the price.”
Hulk Hogan’s lawyer is blaming The National Enquirer and RadarOnline for ruining his career, according to TampaBay.com reporter Anna Phillips.
Judge Pamela Campbell ruled that Hogan’s sex-tape civil case against Gawker Media will begin on March 7th, 2016.
Hogan’s lawyer told the judge, “His career is done, he’s been fired from WWE.”
Hogan’s lawyer cited “a potential violation of a protective order,” in accusing Gawker of being responsible for the leaked comments in an effort to ruin Hogan’s public image ahead of the trial.
Gawker’s legal team argued that the media company did not violate any laws and that there is, “a long list of people who knew about Mr. Bollea’s use of racist language long before Gawker learned about it.”
Gawker lawyers called Hogan’s efforts “the last refuge of a desperate litigant”
Since the news broke last Friday that Hulk Hogan had been removed from the WWE due to a racist rant, several people have shared their thoughts and feelings regarding the news.
On the latest edition of Human Podcast Machine with Taz the former ECW Champion decided to get a few things off his chest in regards to the comments made by Hulk Hogan.
Describing the whole thing as “very sad,” Taz revealed that in his opinion, this could be the very end of Hulk Hogan’s career in the world of professional wrestling.
“I just think it’s sad – I think it’s sad,” Taz explained. “I think it is sad especially for folks that he offended heavily, namely anyone that was a fan of his that maybe is African American or wrestlers that are African American.”
Taz went on to explain that he believes Hogan is “done” and that it’s a “sad way to go out” and while he wants to say he feels bad for him, he’s not sure how you can.
“I mean, he said this. You can hear it on tape. It’s like, how do you feel bad for the guy? You can’t! He said it. It was years ago and he [has] changed, I guess, and whatever, but it doesn’t matter. It’s reprehensible comments and it’s just not cool.”
You can listen to the rest of this episode by clicking on this link.
Bay News 9 uncovered additional racially charged comments from Hulk Hogan stemming from a jailhouse conversation he had with his son Nick in 2008.
Nick was in the middle of serving an eight-month sentence following an automobile accident that resulted in his friend, John Graziano, being seriously injured and requiring 24-hour-a-day care for the rest of his life.
Hulk Hogan, who was trying to use slang-speak when talking with his son, called him a “n*gga,” noting that it meant Nick was his “best friend.”
Below is a transcript of the conversation, which you can listen to as well by clicking here.
Hulk: “You and me been sitting on some serious phone, phone dialogue here n—a.”
Nick: “Yeah, nibb-ah.”
Hulk: “N—a, n—a, that means, that means you (are) my best friend.”
Hulk: “You know that God gave you this vibe and this, this, energy that you and I are going to live forever, bro. I just hope we don’t come back as a couple, I don’t want to say it, blizz-ack gizz-uys, you know what I’m saying?”
Nick: “Brutal” [Nick and Hulk laugh]
Nick: “It’s down in St. Pete and it’s mixed-race and we get along with everybody, so that’s fine.”
Hulk: “Your mom went there and said it was mainly blizz, you know what I’m sizz-aying?”
Nick: “Mm-hm.”
Hulk: “And that some of the ladies there that, you know, run the school are nice blizz lizz-adies, you know?”
Nick: “Mm-hm…. I would go down there, I would make friends with all those kids down there. I guarantee it. Because you know how all the blizz pizz love us.”
– The “Funny Or Die” website released a Hulk Hogan spoof video this week. In the video, which you can view below, the Hogan character shows up backstage at WWE RAW and is interviewed by a Renee Young character.
– The following matches are scheduled to air on tonight’s edition of NXT TV on the WWE Network.
* Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady vs. The Mechanics.
* Baron Corbin vs. Jesse Sorensen.
* Chad Gable and Jason Jordan in tag action.
* Charlotte vs. Dana Brooke.
* Kevin Owens vs. Martin Stone (may have been a dark match).
* Blake and Murphy vs. The Vaudevillains for the NXT Tag Titles
– The Tuesday, July 28th edition of WWE Tough Enough on the USA Network averaged 980,000 viewers for the first episode to air following the Hulk Hogan racism controversy. Viewership was down this week compared to the 1.144 million viewers who tuned into the program last week.
– This week’s edition of WWE Total Divas, which also aired on Tuesday night, drew 1.083 million viewers on the E! network. Viewership for Total Divas was up this week compared to last week’s show, which averaged 995,000 viewers.
According to TMZ, former WWE Superstar Hulk Hogan is now blaming Gawker for leaking the information that led to him having his contract with the WWE terminated.
Hogan is reportedly blaming Gawker’s Nick Denton for leaking the story in an attempt to ruin the $100 million case he currently has against them and believes Denton should be thrown in jail.
The former WWE Superstar has reportedly filed new court documents in his sex tape lawsuit against Gawker and has asked for a full investigation to be launched.
He hopes this will prove that Denton and former executive A.J. Daulerio had leaked confidential information from not only the sex tape video – but also the ‘N’ word story.
Gawker have since released a short statement of their own to TMZ which denies that they had any role in the leaking of this information, it reads:
“Hulk Hogan has only one person to blame for what he said and no one from Gawker had any role in leaking that information.”
– Gawker’s President and general counsel Heather Dietrick.
Hulk Hogan’s longtime business associate Eric Bischoff recently spoke to the folks at Under The Mat Radio about the controversy surrounding “The Hulkster” over the past week.
“Well, first of all, I think WWE handled it the only way they could,” Bischoff said. “In the entertainment business, especially when you’re a publicly held company, you have to be sensitive not only to your audience, but you have to be sensitive to your advertisers. You have to be sensitive to your business partners.”
Bischoff continued, “You have to be sensitive and respectful of so many different people within the business of the entertainment business that you have to be responsible and you have to take responsible action, and I think that’s exactly what WWE did. I don’t see how they possibly could have kept Hulk in the position that Hulk was in as a quote-unquote ambassador of their company with the kind of horrible publicity that is surrounding him now and will like surround him for quite awhile given everything that is going on.”
– WWE has confirmed that Shawn Michaels will be replacing Hulk Hogan as the General Manager of the upcoming live events tour of Australia from August 6-8.
Michaels will be the GM for shows at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre on August 6th, Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena on August 7th and Sydney’s Qantas Credit Union Arena on August 8th.
Australian fans hoping to get their hands on tickets can do so by clicking this link.
– Following his elimination on Tough Enough, the WWE posted a number of videos featuring Mada speaking with Chris Jericho, Paige and his fellow competitors. Check them out below:
WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross recently updated his official Q&A section. Below are some of the highlights:
On the Hulk Hogan racism controversy: “As I said in my blog on this website, I never knew of Hogan to be a racist. He’s not unlike many top level stars, he can be problematic at times doing business but that goes for many, many talents.”
On the possibility of Steve Austin being involved at WrestleMania next year: “I think that they can and who said neither would definitely NOT be a part of the presentation? Hogan, I get, but Austin in a non wrestling role has not been eliminated.”
On the “Diva Revolution”: “I don’t really hae any take on the Divas in WWE at this time other than to say that the NXT additions will help the main roster greatly and the winning streak of Nikki Bella is a non issue to me personably. If the streak helps the overall product I say roll with it.”
On the biggest misconception about him: “That I have a contentious relationship with WWE which isn’t true. I don’t always agree with what they do philosophically but that doesn’t mean anything other than that.”
Check out more JR Q&A updates at his official website, JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.
The hits keep on coming for Hulk Hogan. RadarOnline.com has released even more details from Hulk Hogan’s sex tape with Heather Clem. While most of the leaked commentary thus far has focused on Hogan’s feelings about African Americans, the latest comments have Hogan unleashing homophobic remarks, calling the man who now lives is childhood home “a big f*g.”
While laying in bed with Heather Clem on one of the sex tapes seen by Radar Online and The National Enquirer, Hogan reportedly said:
“VH1 wanted me to do a big thing and go back to the house I grew up in,” discussing the Season Four finale of Hogan Knows Best.
“So we knock on the doorand a big f*g lives there now!”
“This half-gay was enamored with Linda.”
The story also notes that Bubba The Love Sponge, Heather Clem’s husband at the time, walked into to the room while they were doing their thing. Hogan, who was married at the time, told Bubba,
“Dude, the only thing I will ever ask of you … I don’t know how you will pull this off … is, if I am ever on my death bed, you cannot let Linda come and visit me.”
Hulk was also concerned about what would happen to his $5 million Las Vegas home in the event that he and Linda would get divorced, which they were the following year. Hogan said SoBe Entertainment mogul Cecile Barker, the “black billionaire” that Hogan referred to elsewhere on the tape, would help him get the home back in the event of a divorce.
“If I get divorced, Linda will make me sell it … F**k it, Cecile will buy it and give it back to me after the divorce!”
– After posting a tweet on Monday claiming the entire roster was scheduled to appear on stage for the opening of WWE RAW, The New Day’s Xavier Woods later corrected himself, referring to the incorrect post as a “tweet mulligan.” Woods tweeted the following:
– Speaking of Monday’s RAW, live correspondents have informed us that security was confiscating any signs related to the Hulk Hogan incident from fans inside the arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
WWE Divas Champion Nikki Bella spoke highly of WWE’s diversity in a new statement released by E! following the Hulk Hogan racism controversy.
“We just love to celebrate individuals who come from different walks of life,” said Bella. “At WWE alone, we have such a diverse set of talent, of employees, of fans and you know, that’s one of the things that makes WWE so unique and not only WWE but Total Divas.
The WWE Divas Champion continued, “Look at our cast [on Total Divas]. Our cast, very diverse and you know, everyone’s from a different background, different nationality, and I think that’s what makes our show so interesting…as you see all these girls from different backgrounds come together and empower women.”
WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross updated his official blog on Monday with his latest thoughts and opinions on a number of topics. Below are some of the highlights:
On the Hulk Hogan controversy: “Hulk Hogan remains in the news and is likely to continue to do so until another celebrity story breaks. Hulk arguably would be helped if he laid low on Twitter for a few weeks. Hopefully Hulk has retained PR professionals, a sensitivity training expert and he decides to stop trying to rehabilitate his image on social media at least for the time being. I am a big believer in forgiveness and have no reason to believe that Hogan can’t or won’t be forgiven in time if he goes about it in a sincere, thought out manner. Even if some believe that Hulk did nothing wrong, his public image, of which he earns a living, has taking the big leg drop and it needs rehabilitated.
In my years of dealing with Hogan I never knew of him being a racist or having racist behavior. I can’t read his mind or look into his soul but can only respond to what I’ve personally witnessed and that is I would never earmark him as being racist based on my interactions with him.
No matter how one comments on this hot button issue, many will disagree. That’s fine as long as the dialog remains civil which is often times impossible to achieve on social media platforms such as Twitter.”
On tonight’s RAW: “OKC hosts RAW tonight on the night over the years that Ol JR usually had a long evening at the office but not tonight as I will be interviewing Patrick Clark about being shockingly eliminated off Tough Enough last week for the Ross Report that drops tomorrow night (Tuesday) at 9 pm ET on podcastone.com, iTunes and here on the homepage of our website. Should be some compelling stuff.”
On The Rock’s new HBO show: “Loved @ShoRayDonovan, @BallersHBO and @TrueDetective Sunday night as I watched each episode twice. Very proud of the production and performance of my friend @TheRock on Ballers. Ballers reminds me a bit of some of the wrestlers during the Monday Night Wars who were making silly money during that time and thought that it would never end and now are suffering the consequences. Hopefully, Ballers will be a wake up call to those athletes (NFL. NBA. etc) and entertainment performers who feel bullet proof and that the Golden Goose will live forever.”
Check out the complete blog at JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.
Radar Online has released even more racist comments from Hulk Hogan, from the same tape that The National Enquirer quoted on Friday.
The new quote references actor Jamie Foxx and the African American billionaire music producer Hogan spoke about previously.
Hogan said:
“F*cking n**ger… he had Jamie Foxx coming in on the 22nd track.”
“I didn’t even tell Brooke about it. F*ck her. Brooke and [name withheld] met in Miami. Brooke f*cks up a ten million dollar deal I had with the Saudis. Brooke says, ‘F*ck you dad.’ She’s never said that. She flipped a bird at me.”
According to Radar Online, it could not be determined in transcript filed under seal in a Florida court if Hogan was using the N-word to refer to Jamie Foxx or the mysterious “black billionaire guy.”
Hogan continued complaining about his family:
“I have this huge f*cking house in Miami. My family never comes home. They went to LA. F*ck ’em.”
Check out our Hulk Hogan news page for tons more fallout from his racism controversy, including reactions from his daughter Brooke, CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, Roddy Piper and more.
Hulk Hogan is back at it again, digging an even deeper hole for himself in the fallout from Friday’s revelation that he is a self-admitted racist.
Hogan has been retweeting supportive messages from his fans telling him that they know Hogan’s flippant use of the N-word does not represent the man he truly is.
On Sunday night, Hogan retweeted the following message to his 1.35 million followers:
Hogan is already getting a lot of negative media backlash for his endorsement of the tweet, which takes President Obama’s use of the word completely out of context. During an appearance on Marc Maron’s WTF podcast last month, the President used the N-word to communicate that racism is still alive and well in America.
“Racism, we are not cured of it. And it’s not just a matter of it not being polite to say n*gger in public,” Obama said.
“That’s not the measure of whether racism still exists or not. It’s not just a matter of overt discrimination. Societies don’t, overnight, completely erase everything that happened 200 to 300 years prior.”
Apparently Hogan does not see the difference between President Obama’s use of the word and his own statements admitting to be a racist and complaining that his daughter might be sleeping with an African American rapper instead of a rich, 8-foot-tall athlete, which he would have found more acceptable.
Former WWE Superstar Hulk Hogan has had quite a bit of support following the news on Friday that he had been released from the WWE following leaked racist comments.
Not everyone has been on his side however including former ECW wrestler New Jack who has posted a photo of himself with Hulk’s daughter Brooke with the caption: “Hulk Hogan…I’m that N****”.
New Jack posted the above photo on his Facebook page
Since Hogan was released from the WWE, he has remained active on his Twitter account, retweeting support from fans and thanking them for their support.
I'm overwhelmed by the love and support of the millions of people that never 4 a moment left my side,I'm grateful,truly humbled,only love HH
– On Friday it was reported that Hulk Hogan had been removed from the WWE following racist comments which were released to the world later in the day.
His contract from the WWE was terminated, he was removed from the WWE website, WWE Shop and the Tough Enough casting page – with Bret Hart being rumoured as his replacement.
In regards to what will happen with Hulk Hogan content on the WWE Network, Dave Meltzer noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that Hogan’s matches will remain on the service.
However decisions are still being made with regards to what should stay and go – Hulk Hogan’s “Rock ‘n’ Wrestling” cartoon has been removed however matches are still also on YouTube.
– In another note, the @AskWWENetwork account has stated that at present, they have been received word relating to Hulk Hogan content on the Network.
@vaughanmooreMTW At this time we have not been given word on removing any content with Hulk Hogan. Please stay tuned for any updates. ^JA
One of Hulk Hogan’s biggest rivals in the 1980s and 1990s, Kamala (James Harris), recently spoke with the Bleacher Report about the Hogan racism controversy.
“That’s not the Hogan I know. Hogan always treated me like a gentleman. He genuinely cared about me. He was my friend. He’d tell me, ‘Brother, I’m getting my money. I hope you’re getting yours, because you’re putting asses in the seats.’ When it came to our matches, he valued my input. He’d always say, ‘What do you want to do out there, brother?’ I’d tell him, and then we’d go out there and do it. He’s a sweetheart of a guy.”
Additionally, Kamala noted that Hogan just got caught with a “hidden recorder and said something he probably didn’t mean,” and that he is not mad at his former on-air rival.
“I’m not mad at him at all. Deep down, he’s really not like that. He’s a super-nice guy. I don’t believe he’s a racist at all, no matter what he said,” said Harris.
He also commented on what he would say to Hogan if he were to see him now.
“The first thing I’d do is shake his hand and hug him, just like we always do,” said Harris. “That wouldn’t change. Then I might say, ‘Hey man, what happened?’ But it’d be with a smiling face.”
Hulk Hogan has continued thanking those who are supporting him on social media following his racist tirade that was released earlier this week.
Hogan told one fan that he made a mistake when he was at a low point in his life and issued another quick statement thanking those who are sticking by his side.
Below are some of Hogan’s latest tweets.
Thank u Maniacs 4 the love and support,it's amazing how many people know who I really am and stuck by my side,I will always keep my head up