Vince McMahon Defends Hulk Hogan Racist Comments – ‘He wasn’t a racist’

On July 24, 2025, wrestling lost its biggest superstar to date, Hulk Hogan, to a heart attack. He was 71. While in the past few years, Hogan has earned himself a bad reputation for his racist comments, we still can’t deny his influence on this business. Not only did he create a wrestling boom once, but he did it again with the creation of the nWo in WCW.

TMZ recently uploaded a documentary titled The Real Hulk Hogan, which first aired on Fox on August 12. Many current and past wrestlers were interviewed for this documentary, including Vince McMahon. The former WWE CEO has mostly lain low since the sex trafficking lawsuit was filed against him, but he did show up at Hogan’s memorial services.

Vince McMahon Defends Hulk Hogan Racist Comments

Hulk Hogan and Vince McMahon first started working with each other in 1983, shortly after the latter bought WWE from his father. He turned Hogan into WWE’s face, and in return, Hogan brought him millions in revenue. Everywhere he went, every arena he stepped foot in was sold out because Hogan had become the definition of a pro wrestler.

It wouldn’t be wrong to say that Hogan and McMahon were close to each other. In The Real Hulk Hogan special, McMahon also defended Hogan’s racist comments towards his daughter’s ex-boyfriend.

McMahon admitted what Hogan said was “unforgivable,” but that doesn’t make him a racist. He simply made a mistake, and he paid for it.

“I knew he wasn’t racist. I’ve been with him for so many years. He wasn’t racist. He said some racist things. He should pay for that, and he did. In the end, I think everyone saw the real Hulk Hogan, Terry Bollea, and they felt, ‘Wait a minute, this guy doesn’t act like a racist. He’s not a racist.’ We all make mistakes. That was a big one, but he wasn’t a racist.” (H/T Fightful)

Hulk Hogan Wasn’t Happy With How WWE Fans Treated Him

Vince McMahon wasn’t the only one who defended the legendary wrestler Hulk Hogan. Stars like Mick Foley and Jimmy Hart also spoke in Hogan’s support, and while they didn’t justify his mistake, they knew it wasn’t who he was in real life.

Mark Henry, on the other hand, did not talk in support of The Hulkster. He said that Hogan himself admitted on tape that he was a racist and that he wouldn’t defend someone like that.

“He said, in his words, that he was a racist. Why would I sit here and try to defend somebody that tells you who they were? It hurt. It hurt. I grew up watching the dude, I used to love that dude. I wanted to be like him. It hurts.” (H/T Fightful)

In the past decade or so, whenever Hogan would appear on camera, he would be booed by the fans. And Hogan didn’t like that. Stars like Goldberg and McMahon were disappointed with how the fans treated Hogan during his final years and said that he deserved much more.

Vince’s comments in the documentary have once again brought him to the spotlight, and while most fans don’t agree with him on that, they don’t deny that Hogan was the most influential wrestler in the history of professional wrestling.

Main image credit: IMAGO / MediaPunch