Overnight on Thursday into early Friday morning, WWE had removed any and all mentions of WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan from the WWE.com website, as well as all merchandise listings from WWEShop.com and mentions of Hogan as part of the Tough Enough reality show on the USA Network.
Around 10:00 AM ET on Friday, WWE issued the following statement, announcing they have terminated their contract with Hogan (Terry Bollea):
“WWE terminated its contract with Terry Bollea (aka Hulk Hogan). WWE is committed to embracing and celebrating individuals from all backgrounds as demonstrated by the diversity of our employees, performers and fans worldwide.”
This all stems from a joint report by the National Enquirer and Radar-Online.com posted early Friday morning that claimed that in the full sex tape Hogan did with the ex-wife of radio host Bubba The Love Sponge, Heather Clem, that Gawker.com leaked clips of in 2012 and Hogan is currently in a legal battle over, that Hogan made several racist remarks to Clem as part of a conservation concerning Hogan’s daughter, Brooke, and her music career, with Hogan being upset that a “black billionaire guy” had made an offer to Brooke to fund her music career. The sex tape is said to have been filmed back in 2006. National Enquirer & Radar-Online have said that they obtained the following transcript of Hogan’s reported racist remarks within the sex tape from several independent sources in Florida as the official transcript is currently sealed in a Florida court, where the Hogan vs. Gawker.com lawsuit is currently being tried at.
The following is quotes by Hogan from that report (NSFW):
“She is making some real bad decisions now. My daughter Brooke jumped sides on me. I spent $2-3 million on her music career, I’ve done everything like a jackass for her. The one option Brooke had, Brooke’s career besides me, is [to] sell beach records. I don’t know if Brooke was f*****g the black guy’s son. I mean, I don’t have double standards. I mean, I am a racist, to a point, f*****g n*****s. But then when it comes to nice people and s***, and whatever. I mean, I’d rather if she was going to f*** some n*****, I’d rather have her marry an 8-foot-tall n***** worth a hundred million dollars! Like a basketball player! I guess we’re all a little racist. F*****g n*****.”
Mutliple wrestling media websites have since reported that the National Enquirer made WWE aware of their report on Hogan and his racist remarks on Thursday evening, which led to WWE not wasting any time in distancing themselves from Hogan, removing all mentions of him from their websites and terminating his contract with the company. Hogan is still on the content he appears on the WWE Network as of this writing, but will not be involved in anything with WWE going forward.
There is currently no update on who will be replacing Hogan as a judge on the Tough Enough reality show as of this writing, however, WWE star Curtis Axel, who had been doing a parody of Hogan as “Axel Mania” in recent months, is said to have been told he will immediately be dropping that character.
Finally, overnight Thursday into Friday, Hogan posted the following cryptic tweet on his Twitter:
“In the storm I release control,God and his Universe will sail me where he wants me to be,one love. HH”
Wrestleview.com will continue to give you updates on this story as they break.
Sources: The Wrestling Observer/Figure Four Online, PWInsider.com, Radar-Online.com, The National Enquirer