Hulk Hogan Dismissed from WWE for Racist Comments

Hulk Hogan, WWE legend and twelve-time heavyweight champion of the world, has been fired from the biggest international wrestling league for several racist comments leaked by the National Enquirer.

The recording that condemned Hogan has been made public through transcriptions in a news article on Radar Online, the Enquirer's website. During the video, Hogan is seen sharing a bed with a woman and at one point he says, "If Brooke (his daughter) is going to sleep with a black man, at least he should be one of those who's two meters tall and worth a hundred million, like basketball players. I think we're all a bit racist, aren't we? Fucking niggers."

After this came to light, Terry Bolea, better known as Hulk Hogan, was fired last night by the WWE. The company informed of this through an official statement where they did not provide many details. The WWE fired him and made their position clear with this statement: "We respect and celebrate all kinds of beliefs, as demonstrated by the diversity of our employees, wrestlers, and fans around the world." The WWE did not stop there and to show their complete rejection of this type of attitude, they are removing all references to Hulk Hogan from their website throughout the day, from old fight videos to the wrestler's merchandise. Hulk Hogan has also been expelled from the WWE Hall of Fame, at least in its online version.

The wrestler anticipated the statement on Twitter, referring to his religious beliefs and saying that "God and his universe will guide me wherever they want." Later, the wrestler gave further explanations on People magazine's website. "Hollywood" Hogan referred to his comments in this way: "It's unacceptable, there's no excuse". He also alluded to the fact that it's not his nature and that it was a one-time mistake: "That's not me. I truly believe that every person is important and should not be discriminated against because of their race, gender, sexual orientation, or religious beliefs." He also made room for self-criticism: "I'm very disappointed in myself for using that kind of offensive language which, furthermore, does not align with my beliefs."

This news has created a great media impact as Hogan is one of the biggest icons in this sport followed worldwide. The wrestler is one of the "legends" of this show sport, being one of the most recognized faces of all time, both for his record and charisma, and he has always been one of the most beloved by fans.