World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. has erased nearly all references to the wrestler Hulk Hogan from its main website, reportedly due to an audio tape soon to be released by the National Enquirer in which Hogan (real name: Terry Bollea) can be heard referring to black people as “niggers.”

According to Wrestling News Source (as highlighted by The Daily Beast’s Marlow Stern):

On WWE.com, Hogan is no longer listed on the WWE Hall of Fame page, and all of his merchandise has also been removed from WWEShop.com. The only thing currently remaining that mentions Hogan involves WWE’s upcoming Australian tour, which Hogan was scheduled to take part in as General Manager. However, when any attempt to access this page is made, a message appears stating “you are not authorized to access this page.”

The Daily Beast speculates that the removal is tied to a 3-year-old audio clip from a radio show where Hogan discussed being referred to, and referring to others, as “niggas” and “niggers.” Per the gossip website MediaTakeOut, however, the erasure appears to be tied to an audio tape that recently surfaced during legal discovery for Hogan’s trial against Gawker Media. In that tape, which was reportedly obtained by the National Enquirer, Hogan is allegedly heard “referring to black people as niggers”:


MediaTakeOut.com got a sneak preview of on an AUDIO TAPE - which allegedly shows HULK HOGAN using the “N Word”. And he’s not using the “N*GGA” word either. After listening to the tape, which is DISGUSTING, there can be NO DOUBT that Hulk Hogan is a racist . . . at the level of the KU KLUX KLAN. The tape was discovered during the GAWKER LAWSUIT - it was from a legal deposition and was sold to the National Enquirer. We’re told that the audio tape will be out early this morning. When it comes out, we’ll post it here.

Hogan is suing Gawker Media for $100 million in Pinellas County, Florida for publishing excerpts of a video tape depicting him having sex with the wife of his ex-best-friend, the Tampa-area radio shock jock Bubba the Love Sponge Clem.



The only comment from Hogan so far is a cryptic tweet issued earlier today:

Neither WWE nor Hogan’s lawyer, Charles Harder, immediately returned requests for comment. If you know any more about this, please get in touch.