Hulk Hogan has been wrestling with his emotions of late.
Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, recently landed in hot water because of a secretly recorded tape in which he made racist comments about his daughter Brooke’s boyfriend. The wrestling icon since has apologized, and he said in an interview that aired Monday on ABC’s “Good Morning America” he even considered suicide while dealing with embarrassment over the racist rant.
“I’m not a racist. I never should have said what I said,” Hogan said. “It was wrong. I’m embarrassed by it.”
“I was to the point where I wanted to kill myself,” he added.
Hogan, whose contract with World Wrestling Entertainment was terminated after the controversial tape surfaced, pointed to his upbringing in Tampa Bay. He said such racist language was “thrown around like it was nothing” and that it’s “very fair” to say he inherited a racial bias.
Hogan expressed remorse for his offensive comments on the tape, which is believed to have been recorded between 2006 and 2007. He broke down in tears at one point and begged for forgiveness.
“Oh, my gosh. Please forgive me. Please forgive me,” Hogan said. “I think if you look at the whole picture of who Hulk Hogan is, you can see over all the years that there’s not a racist bone in my body.”
WWE erased all mention of Hogan on its website in addition to firing the popular superstar.
