Wrestling legend Hulk Hogan has broken down in tears as he begged forgiveness and denied he was racist following the emergence of a tape where he used the word "n----r".
The most recognizable face in wrestling has been pilloried after the emergence of an audio recording of him making racist comments during a sex tape recorded between 2006 and 2007.
The scandal has seen Hogan, born Terry Bolea, wiped from the WWE Hall of Fame and shamed across the USA.
In an interview with US ABC’s Good Morning America, Hogan — the iconic wrestling persona of the man born as Terry Bollea — apologised for his racist outburst in the ‘pillow talk’ segment of a secretly recorded sex tape.
Hogan, 63, said he was angry at his daughter when he referred to her boyfriend, an African American, using the n-word.
Hogan said he had “no idea” that he was being taped, explaining: “I was to the point where I wanted to kill myself, you know?”
He described how he sat in his bathroom by himself, his estranged wife and children gone.
“I was completely broken and destroyed and said, ‘What’s the easiest way out of this?’ I mean, I was lost,” he said.
Eight years ago, Hogan was secretly filmed having sex with Heather Clem, the wife of Hogan’s former friend and radio host Bubba the Love Sponge Clem.
He is now suing Gawker Media, which published excerpts from the sex tape, for a reported $US100 million ($140 million).
That trial is set for next year.
In March, Hogan travelled to Australia and, in an exclusive in-depth interview withThe Advertiser, admitted he was rebuilding his life.
He said a series of setbacks including divorce, his son’s dangerous driving conviction, career injuries and repeated surgeries had left him bitter and emotionally distraught.
Hogan said returning to World Wrestling Entertainment — the company that made him a household name — was part of his rebirth as a better person.
“That Hulk Hogan character saved me, too ... when we came up with that character, it was up here (morally) and the man was down there,” he said.
“Through all these things in my life that happened, these worst-case scenarios, all these setbacks, I needed to take that character and find out who I was really supposed to be — someone who’s better than I thought I was, the better person I was meant to be.”
Weeks later, audio from the sex tape revealed the semiretired wrestling star’s expletive-laden racist rant.
Its publication caused WWE owner Vince McMahon to fire Hogan, erasing all mention of him from the company’s website and in their Hall of Fame.
Hogan said he was dismayed to wiped from the WWE Hall of Fame.
"I've worked for the WWE for almost 30 years off and on ... and then all of a sudden, everything I've done my whole career and my whole life was like it never happened," he said.
"I mean, I love this business. I mean, it's been my life. I've given my life to this business.
"I've destroyed my body because I love doing this so much ... And I knew great things were still coming. And - it just destroyed me."
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