Hulk Hogan wishes WWE bosses had suspended him instead of terminating his contract because they know he's "not a racist".
Hulk Hogan
The 62-year-old grappling icon was fired by World Wrestling Entertainment - the company he helped turn into a household name - in July this year after transcripts from a secretly recorded sex tape, dating back to 2007, revealed him using the N-word to describe his daughter Brooke's then-boyfriend.
Hogan accepts his behaviour on the tape was wrong but had hoped WWE would have given him a chance to make amends.
Asked how he feels about WWE's decision to remove all mention of him from its website in the wake of his firing, he said: "It was business. I understand they're a public company - and with a political correctness vibe in the air, I understand why they've removed all mentions of me. I don't think they're right, the WWE knows me better than anybody and they know I'm not racist. So I wish they had taken a different choice of action, such as suspension."
Hogan - whose real name is Terry Bollea - is adamant the words he used on the tape are not reflective of who is as a person, as he was battling depression at the time the recording was made and had a number of personal troubles, which included the break-up of his 24-year marriage to Linda Hogan, who filed for divorce in November 2007.
He added: "This whole racist rant or these comments - not to make light of them - but the people who have been supportive of me look at them more like just a mess-up, or a bad day and they know that's not me."
Meanwhile, Hogan - who is coming to the UK on November 14 for special 'Evening With Hulk Hogan' Q&A - also admitted he's a big Twitter enthusiast, even though he frequently gets "tricked" on the social network.
In an interview with the Metro newspaper, he said: "Twitter is great for getting yourself out there and having fun with fans. The people who put fake tweets up and share different pictures - well, I get tricked on a daily basis.
"I'm just trying to help people and try to be kind to people, so if I make a mistake, I don't feel bad because I know my intentions are good. I know I've retweeted pictures of people who weren't fans or people's parents when they told me they were."
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