Hulk Hogan says he’s not a racist and pleaded for forgiveness in an interview that aired Monday on ABC’s Good Morning America in the US.
“Oh, my gosh. Please forgive me. Please forgive me,” said Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea.
“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.”
The WWE fired Hogan after audio surfaced earlier this year in which Hogan is heard using the n-word when talking about his daughter’s boyfriend.
"I'm not a racist but I never should have said what I said. It was wrong. I'm embarrassed by it,” Hogan said.
"People need to realise that you inherit things from your environment. And where I grew up was south Tampa, Port Tampa, and it was a really rough neighborhood, very low income.
"And all my friends, we greeted each other saying that word."
Hogan also admits to having suicidal thoughts and was devastated by the WWE’s termination.