Nearly a decade after Hulk Hogan’s racist comments scandal rocked WWE, Vince McMahon has broken his silence with his most candid assessment yet of the controversy that severed ties with wrestling’s biggest star.

In a revealing TMZ special that aired Tuesday night on Fox, McMahon opened up about the 2015 incident that led to Hogan’s immediate removal from WWE programming and the Hall of Fame. The wrestling mogul’s comments reveal the deep personal conflict he experienced between his decades-long relationship with Hogan and the corporate responsibility to address the scandal.

“It was unforgivable. And I was aghast. ‘What happened?’ And when those things occurred.. ‘that’s not like him. What in God’s name is going on?'” McMahon told TMZ’s Harvey Levin, describing his initial reaction to learning about Hogan’s recorded racial slurs.

The revelation prompted swift corporate action from WWE, despite McMahon’s personal feelings about the wrestling icon he had worked with for decades. “As soon as it happened, I was made that company didn’t have anything to do with me anymore. We even took them out of the Hall of Fame,” McMahon explained, detailing the immediate severing of ties.

However, McMahon’s most striking comments came when he defended Hogan’s character while condemning his words. “I knew he wasn’t a racist. I’ve been with him for so many years. He wasn’t racist. He said some racist things and he should pay for that and he did. But in the end, I think that everyone saw the real Hulk Hogan and Terry Bolea and they felt, ‘wait a minute, this guy, he 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.”

This nuanced stance highlights the complex challenge facing entertainment companies when personal scandals involve their biggest stars. McMahon’s comments suggest a distinction between momentary actions and fundamental character, though he acknowledged the severity of Hogan’s words.

The interview provides rare insight into WWE’s crisis management during one of its most sensitive controversies, revealing how quickly the company moved to distance itself despite the personal relationships involved. McMahon’s willingness to publicly defend Hogan’s character while maintaining the comments were “unforgivable” demonstrates the ongoing tension between personal loyalty and corporate accountability.

Vince McMahon has revealed how he reacted to news of Hulk Hogan’s passing.

The former WWE chairman was one of the personalities interviewed for ‘The Real Hulk Hogan’ TMZ documentary that aired today. McMahon talked about his relationship with the late wrestling veteran at length.

When asked about his reaction to the news of Hogan passing away at the age of 71 on July 24 last month, Vince McMahon said that he was shocked.

The former wrestling promoter explained that you never think about a family member or close friend passing away and mentioned how Hulk Hogan, real name Terry Bollea, had overcome serious health issues before:

“Shock. You just don’t think about someone, a family member or someone that close to you, you don’t think about them passing away. Terry had kicked out, so to speak, of so many surgeries.

He had to get like 20 surgeries on his back, plus others on his knees and hip or something. He overcame all that. It was a tremendous shot. It was a blow to my heart.”

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Vince McMahon also talked about his relationship with the WWE Hall of Famer in detail. He said Hogan and he were brothers ‘to a certain extent.’ While they would get into verbal scrap sometimes, it always turned out to be for the best.

The former owner of WWE was the one who closed the documentary saying “One thing he said in character, which is ‘Hulkamania will live forever.’ Indeed, it is.”

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Hulk Hogan’s final WWE appearance came at Raw’s debut of Netflix in January 2025, where the wrestling icon was heavily booed. The segment, which saw Hogan try and promote his Real American Beer, would quickly go viral, albeit not for the reasons the Hulkster, or WWE, had hoped.

Few names knew Hogan better than Vince McMahon who made a rare public appearance in TMZ’s new ‘The Real Hulk Hogan’ documentary. Speaking about his friend, McMahon made his views on Hogan’s influence in the wrestling world crystal clear.

“He was a pioneer. There was no-one like him.”

Though Raw’s debut on Netflix came close to a year after McMahon’s second resignation from WWE, the former Chairman kept a close eye on the show. Watching Hogan be booed, McMahon was angry for the man who meant much to him, both professionally and personally.

“I was angry. He deserved much more [than that treatment.]”

Wrestling fans have had a much kinder response to Hogan since his passing in July 2025 of a heart attack. At WWE’s tributes to Hogan at events, fans refrained from booing, instead either cheering the late wrestler or sharing in a somber silence.

These wildly different responses highlight Hogan’s complicated legacy in wrestling, as both a source of admiration and derision. For McMahon, the idea of what response Hogan should’ve gotten has never been in question, making the response he received in January infuriating.