Hulk Hogan denies being racist after using the n-word on a sex tape

Hulk Hogan has denied being a racist and asked for fans' forgiveness after footage of him using the n-word leaked.

The wrestling star said it was "the lowest point" of his life and that he'd considered taking his own life.

Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, told ABC's Good Morning America that he was embarrassed by the whole situation.

"I was mad at my daughter," he said. "I was upset over a situation that happened between her and her boyfriend. I had no idea I was being taped."

Hogan is currently in the middle of a legal battle with US website Gawker after he claimed it published a sex tape of him.

He's suing the media company for $100m (£65m) and says the racist language is from another part of the same video, which it's thought was recorded in 2006 or 2007.

Gawker Media told ABC News that the racist recording was from a different recording entirely that wasn't part of the court case and that it had nothing to do with its leak or publication.

After the the racial slur was released online by the National Inquirer, Hogan had his contract with WWE terminated and had his name and photo removed from the organisation's Hall of Fame.

Hogan, 62, says he knows what he said was wrong but that he's just a normal man.

"Please forgive me," he said. "Please forgive me. I'm a nice guy.

"I think if you look at the whole picture of who Hulk Hogan is, you can see over all the years that there's not a racist bone in my body.

"It's not the Hulk Hogan that rips a shirt off and bang, bang, bang, slams giants, you know? I'm Terry Bollea. I'm a normal man.

Hulk Hogan made his wrestling debut in 1977 and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame 10 years ago

"Everything I've done my whole career and my whole life was like it never happened. Like I'd never existed. It was devastating.

"I'm not a racist but I never should have said what I said. It was wrong. I'm embarrassed by it.

"But a lot of people need to realize that you inherit things from your environment.

"And where I grew up was south Tampa, Port Tampa, and it was a really rough neighbourhood, very low income.

"All my friends, we greeted each other saying that word. The word was just thrown around like it was nothing."

Hogan returned to WWE wrestling last year for the fourth time after more than six years away.

He's also had stints with WWE in the 1970s, 80s, 90s and the noughties and had been due to act as a judge on US reality show Tough Enough.

Brooke Hogan, 27, has appeared in several low budget films and has released two music albums with a new single out soon

Daughter Brooke Hogan wrote a poem on Facebook in his defence after the release of the tape, in which he was talking about her ex-boyfriend.

Part of it read: "If you knew my father, you know how hard he fought... and the way it brought a smile to people light, medium and dark."

Brooke and Hulk Hogan are pictured together at the MTV Video Music Awards in 2004

Hogan says if anyone should have been angry, it should have been her.

"She should have been the one to throw me out like the trash. But instead, she showed me more love than anybody.

"She's been so supportive. She was the direction of my attack, you know? I was not so mad at her boyfriend. I was mad at her, you know?

"And she instantly said, 'I don't even need to forgive you 'cause I'm not mad at you'."

A judge in Florida set a date of March 2016 for Hulk Hogan's court case against Gawker Media

Hulk Hogan says he now wants WWE bosses to look at his case again and reinstate him.

"Just because a person makes a mistake, just don't throw them away," he said. "You don't throw good people away.

"If everybody at their lowest point was judged on one thing they said and all of a sudden, your whole career was wiped out today because of something you said 10 or 20 years ago, it'd be a sad world.

"People get better every day. People get better."

Hogan had backing from the likes of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, who also used to be a pro wrestler.

"It's funny, it's one of those things where, and [I'm] not justifying what he said, we've all talked trash, especially in private," he said.

"He said what he said and he's paying the price."

Hulk Hogan is a six-time WWF/E (World heavyweight) champion and a six-time WCW world heavyweight champion.

He also won the Royal Rumble in 1990 and 1991, making him the first man to win two consecutively.

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