In his final interview before his death, WWE legend Hulk Hogan said that he had regrets about using racial slurs in the past.
The recently released Netflix docuseries, Hulk Hogan: Real American, features the WWE legend’s final interview, filmed three months before his passing in July 2025. In the final episode, he opened up about the 2015 leaked audio tape and noted that he regretted using racial slurs while talking about his daughter Brooke Hogan’s then-boyfriend.
“I’m a person that got very mad over a personal situation. I used a word. Yeah, I regret it, because even under that heavy, crazy fire, I should have remained still and kept my mouth shut,” Hulk Hogan says. “But what I said resonates and has an echo effect. It keeps vibrating for years.
“Bro, I’ve driven the car, keep hitting the wall, crashing and burning, saying stupid stuff and messing up. Whenever I say I have regrets, it’s because I didn’t man up when I said it.”
The documentary then showed a clip of Hulk Hogan apologizing after the initial fallout to the leaked audio in 2015. “I never should have said what I said,” Hogan says in the clip. “It was wrong. I’m embarrassed by it. But a lot of people need to realize that you inherit things from your environment.”
Hulk Hogan was fine with some fans hating him
Hulk Hogan also gave a similar reply to PEOPLE, when they interviewed him at the time.
“We are all products of our environment,” Hulk Hogan told PEOPLE one month after the audio was leaked. “If you lived in South Tampa then, you greeted your friends with the n-word, or if you were mad at your friends, you used the n-word. It was a part of my daily environment.
“When you inherit something that is passed on generation to generation to generation, it becomes a practice. You have to be aware of it. I realized this behavior and this type of verbiage is unacceptable. So for me to digress and say something so foul is devastating,” Hulk Hogan said.
Despite initially severing ties with him after the tape leaked, WWE later welcomed Hulk Hogan back. However, his public endorsement of Donald Trump in 2024 had its downsides, as fans greeted him with loud boos at his final WWE appearance during RAW’s Netflix debut in 2025.
“I knew it hurt him,” his longtime friend and on-screen manager Jimmy Hart said in the documentary’s final episode.
In the documentary, Hulk Hogan appeared at peace with the mixed reactions from the fans and said that he’s definitely the greatest wrestler of all time.
“I’m not looking for a legacy pat on the back, for sure,” Hogan explains as he sits down for what would turn out to be the final interview of his life. “Not everyone’s going to love you. Some people hate me, but I’m definitely the greatest wrestler of all time. I’m Hulk Hogan.” [H/T PEOPLE]
Read More: Original Location of WWE WrestleMania 43 Revealed In New Report
