Hulk Hogan is baffled that he can't use the "N-word" while President Obama can

The pro-wrestler whose WWE contract was terminated last week is backpedaling on his apology

Published July 27, 2015 2:30PM (EDT)

Hulk Hogan         (Reuters/Danny Moloshok)
Hulk Hogan (Reuters/Danny Moloshok)

Pro-wrestler and vocal Gawker Media opponent Hulk Hogan made headlines last week after audio surfaced of him using racial slurs to describe a man who'd offered to finance his daughter's music career.

“I mean, I’d rather if she was going to fuck some n***er, I’d rather have her marry an 8-foot-tall n***er worth a hundred million dollars! Like a basketball player!” Hogan reportedly said in the recording. “I guess we’re all a little racist. Fucking n***er.”

WWE swiftly terminated its contract with Hogan and scrubbed all mention of his name from its website before that audio reached the general public.

Hogan apologized to everyone for using the racial slur, explaining that, "this is not who I am." He probably should have just ended it there.

In the aftermath of the Hogan blow-up, the pro-wrestler's Twitter timeline has turned into something of an RT junkyard. Fans have chipped in to voice their absolute confidence that Hogan is "not a racist."

One tweet rubbing people the wrong way, which Hogan RT'd to his 1 million-plus followers Sunday night: “Bi-racial President Obama uses N word, is applauded and keeps his job. @HulkHogan uses N word, is vilified and loses his job.”

[embedtweet id=625520879770796032]

The tweet references Obama's June appearance on Marc Maron's "WTF" podcast, in which he uses the "n-word" in a far different context. Most will recall the president used the term in discussing the current state of race relations in America -- not as part of an angry, racist tirade.

"Racism, we are not cured of it. And it's not just a matter of it not being polite to say n***er in public," Obama said in the interview.

It's not just WWE fans who've rushed to Hogan's defense; Last week, Hogan's daughter, Brooke, posted a poem titled "If You Knew My Father" on her official Facebook page.

She wrote: "If you knew the dad I knew/ you’d know his tender heart./ He’d never want to hurt his fans,/or family from the start."

[h/t: Daily Beast]


By Colin Gorenstein

Colin Gorenstein is Salon's assistant editor of internet and viral content. Follow @colingorenstein or email cgorenstein@salon.com.

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