WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan issued the following statement to People.com on Friday afternoon, admitting to the reported racist remarks by The National Enquirer and Radar-Online that he made on the sex tape with Heather Clem that’s part of the current, ongoing lawsuit with Gawker.com:
“Eight years ago I used offensive language during a conversation. It was unacceptable for me to have used that offensive language; there is no excuse for it; and I apologize for having done it, this is not who I am. I believe very strongly that every person in the world is important and should not be treated differently based on race, gender, orientation, religious beliefs or otherwise, I am disappointed with myself that I used language that is offensive and inconsistent with my own beliefs.”
Hogan’s lawyer, David Houston, also issued a statement to People.com, implying that Hogan was the one who decided to re-sign from his WWE contract, not WWE terminating his contract:
“He decided to resign from WWE because he didn’t want to put them or his family through this.”
WWE has maintained that they decided to terminate Hogan’s contract after getting word by The National Enquirer about Hogan’s reported racist remarks.