Hulk Hogan Paid DLC Removed and De-listed from WWE 2K15

It was reported earlier today that the famous wrestling star has since been removed from WWE 2K16 due to his racist rant, but it's not the only game he's been removed from.

[Relientk77]

They're treating Hogan like Chris Benoit its so stupid

[BigBosss]

So it's okay for Vince Mcmahon to say this https://www.youtube.com/wat...

[Porcelain_Chicken]

Eh, not really the same. Hogan used it in a derogatory sense. Vince used it as a way to seem "hip". The acting in that clip is atrocious though. The guys "mad" face is priceless. I think they are going overboard with this. What Hogan did was wrong but to try and wipe him off the face of the planet is insane.

[Dee_91]

Not sure if they are trying to wipe him off the face of the earth, looks more like severing ties with a person they no longer want to be associated with. Honestly I don't think he's a racist, despite those obviously racist remarks made about the rock and his daughter boyfriend.

[Rebel_Scum]

Yes because he's acting and saying it as you would call someone your brother.

Its acceptable given the context and circumstance. Let's not tread on egg shells for no reason here.

[Ozmoses]

1.. It's McMahons business he'll do whatever he wants.

2.. This video was taken during an actual WWE event where everything was part of the running "storyline"

you think Booker T and that women were just randomly standing there???

in this video it was all staged and part of the ongoing "soap opera"

But none of this is about what we think it is... I'm talking overall... Confederate flags and race....

No it's all about money and greed... Someone somewhere is cashing a big ass paycheck from all the hate spreading around through America right now.

[AstroCyborg]

don't forget when he said in a skit that he'd have the undertakers wife raped by a biker gang but thats ok to these hypocrites because it was in the script

[Enigma_2099]

God, that was painful to watch.

[spacedelete]

agreed. i hate racist trash as much as the next guy but Hulk Hogan is like the biggest name in wrestling. its funny because WWE's biggest stars like John Cena have cheated with his wife but his still in WWE. double standards only exist for some people.

[Relientk77]

I wonder what would happen if Cena does something. Cuz theyd lose so much money without Cena

[Cy]

This is beyond ridiculous. He said what he said EIGHT FREAKING YEARS AGO. If they wanna fire him because it's bad PR and the SJW's will issue a fatwa against them and they're a family company and just don't wanna deal with it, fine. It's stupid, but it's understandable. But trying to totally wipe any mention of HULK FREAKING HOGAN the single most famous and one of, if not the, most important wrestlers ever is the worst kind of overkill. More than that, it's disgusting. The guy said WORDS. FFS people need to get over this crap.

[Zeref]

It was 8 years ago but he wasn't a child, far from it(well into his 50s)

When your that old and a racist I doubt he can stop being a racist.

This is not like the Justin Bieber case. Bieber was a child. Hulk Hogan was an Adult. A racist adult will always be racist especially when you're into your 50s it's hard to change your ways.

So i completely understand why WWE wants nothing to do with him.

[medman]

@cy
And that rationale you're using Cy, is why you'll never grow up to run a business. Hulk Hogan's words have made him a social pariah, much the same as what happened when Mel Gibson ranted about Jewish people. The WWE is doing what it HAS to do, not what it WANTS to do. You think they want to be dealing with this crap?

The problem for the WWE is if they don't distance themselves completely from Terry Bollea, they will lose EVERY SINGLE ADVERTISER they have. That is business son, and it's worth billions. Hulk Hogan is not worth billions to them, hence he is removed from the equation for the benefit of the bottom line. Hulk ruined himself and whatever image he had left...stop blaming the WWE and place the blame right at the feet of Bollea where it belongs.

[2pacalypsenow]

all becuase of something he said 8 YEARS AGO .

They had him in wrestlemania after he swapped wifes and made a sex tape but he says one word and they give him the benoit treatment?

[Zeref]

It's not "one word" he used these wordS in an especially degrading way. He clearly thinks lowly of black people. This is what he deserves for having a small brain.

[jib]

@ninja

not everyone likes the same kind of food.. are you seriously using that comparison

[AstroCyborg]

& vince has issues with other races as well look at the awful gimmicks he gives them

[Zeref]

NinjaMime

you and the people who agree with your comment have issues.

You are comparing humans to food?

You are absolutely right not everybody can like everybody.
But you can't not like someone just because of their skin color.

[medman]

@2pacalypsenow
This just in...if your employer finds out about some dirt you did 8 years ago, you'll be getting a pink slip too. Welcome to reality. In the business world, there is no statute of limitations on poor taste and boorish behavior.

[The_Truth_24_7]

Hulk Hogan is the modern day Hitler.

[2pacalypsenow]

Then you obviously have no idea who hitler is

[The7Reaper]

This crap is getting out of hand he said that 8 YEARS AGO who cares we humans are stupid crucify someone for a racial comment but don't care about more important things going on.

[medman]

@the7reaper
For your edification...if your employer finds out about some dirt you did 8 years ago, you'll be getting a pink slip too. Welcome to reality. In the business world, there is no statute of limitations on poor taste and boorish behavior.

[CorndogBurglar]

Regardless of people here think, companies don't want to be associated with people that are racist. I understand it was in a private conversation, but thats actually because thats when people's true colors show.

Say what you want, but WWE isn't doing anything any other company wouldn't do.

[Zeref]

Well Said.

[Deadpool616]

"I understand it was in a private conversation, but thats actually because thats when people's true colors show."

You don't say?

If you can't work through emotional issues in PRIVATE, can you tell me where the BEST place a person could go to do so? Do you think it would've been better if Hulk Hogan vented his emotions in public? Everyone has to be able to vent their emotions somewhere and deal with what they're feeling. His emotions did not hinder or negatively effect anyone else, but himself. It would be different if he was outwardly projecting racism towards people in public and hurting people, but he wasn't. He was in a private space dealing with it, because that's where people deal with their personal issues.

Everyone goes to someone they trust to vent and it ain't all pretty. Sometimes people have to pay someone to listen. The way I see it, Hulk Hogan was venting his mental issues to the sleazy people and paid dearly for it. He should've went to a professional. They have ethical boundaries. Ethics are tasty.

[CorndogBurglar]

I never said you shouldn't be able to work through your problems in private. But when you are big name person in the public spotlight you need to know that whatever you say can be used against you. All it takes is one person outing you and suddenly you are screwed.

I think you might have mistaken that in my comment. Whoever released is a scum bag. Absolutely. But this is literally no different than Donald Sterling. Sterling was the owner of the LA Clippers and his wife released a few PRIVATE conversations of him making racist comments. Guess what happened to him? The NBA fired him.

Look at it like this. If you owned a world renowned company and one of your poster boys was outed as being racist through public conversations, would you continue using that person as the face of your company? Believe it or not, that poster boy represents your company. So it would be a bad move to not do anything about it because that is basically sending a signal that your company supports racists.

As for the conversation being private. Again, its terrible that these people released this. But yes, true colors show in private. Of course celebrities aren't going to go around acting like this in public or at their job. But it doesn't make it any better that they have these feelings. Its like you saying you don't care that you hired a KKK member that goes to clan meetings and supports white supremacy in his free time. I know thats an extreme, but at the end of the day its all about people's true feelings and the image that you want your company to uphold.

Would it be any better if the WWE had said, "Well you know, he's clearly made these comments, its definitely him, but he's never done it in public or at an event, so its okay that we continue using a racist as our poster boy!" Of course thats not okay.

[medman]

@deadpool616
I don't disagree with anything you said, I think being able to vent and deal with frustration in your own way is very important and healthy. However, there is a limit, and Hulk Hogan crossed it....this is about business. The WWE cannot afford to have their brand associated with Hulk Hogan anymore, not if they value the billions in advertising dollars they get in contracts. It's that simple.

There are certain things you can and can't say, and if you say them, be prepared to accept the consequences, private conversation or not. Hulk has to accept the responsibility, bottom line. That kind of language isn't going to be tolerated in many walks of life, or any businesses that care about staying in business. He damaged his own brand himself. That is Hulk Hogan's problem, and he made it a problem for the WWE. Hence his termination and exclusion.

[Deadpool616]

People have all sorts of feelings. The thing about feelings is that they just ARE. You just get them and have to deal with them. Some people deal with their feelings the right way. Some people deal with their feelings the wrong way. All around the internet, people keep bringing up what Hogan said, "Maybe I'm a little bit racist!" then they say "Ha! He even admitted he was racist!"

Admitting something about yourself is the first step to finding a solution. Did Hogan find that solution within the past 8 years after that recording? We don't know. There's too much information excluded between that time to make a proper judgement. How do you measure how much a person could've changed within that time period to approve the decision to totally "Benoit" the guy who helped make wrestling what it is today?

WWE handling things RETROACTIVELY is just stupid, especially after amends have already been made.

[5yb5n6u]

what a mess. removing him from upcoming product is one thing,
removes him from an already released product? what with him being the cover and all.
and not being able to redownload for those already paid the dlc...

[Antifan]

Looks like his career is dead. His wife left him for a younger man, now this lol.

[Atomicjuicer]

Protect the right to private conversation: BRING BACK HULK

Active racism is wrong.
Destroying people by publishing personal information without permission: wrong.

[Atomicjuicer]

Publishing private conversations without permission and damaging the speaker is like stealing a confed flag from someone's house and strangling a granny then blaming the original owner for causing damage.

[Damrock]

Hogan should be glad to be rid of such a vile company, nothing but money grabbers.

It's like when alberto del rio was sacked for slapping a social media reporter who was being racist towards him. He was meant to be suspended for 3 weeks, but they sacked him soon as there was news about the other guy going to take it to court. Sacking one of there brightest superstars for standing up for himself against a racist reporter just to save a bit of money says it all.......

[tweet75]

Like it or not hogan still sells WWE and games or wrestling without him or his image will suffer financially

[SaveFerris]

'Whatcha ya gonna do brother, when the WWE fires your ass and removes you from all marketing?'

[exnoob]

Honestly if you're just BLINDLY sticking up for hulk, you're probably a closet racist. I love how people here are trying to justify what he said. You people are what is (partially) wrong with society. The things he said was appalling!!! How can you honestly try to give him any sort of benefit of the doubht (unless you secretly feel the same way he does). And for the ninja guy - did you honestly read back what you' wrote??? What do you mean not everyone has to like black people??? So you're telling me it's not ignorant to dislike a hole ethnic group, just because of a few people??? How can you compare it to flipping food??? REALLY??? I swear some of you on this site need to get your head check. Racism isn't cool - IT'S IGNORANT. So stop complaing/making excuses when a company cuts ties with a racist - it just make seem as if you agree with what he says.

[spacedelete]

i don't agree what he said as it was very disrespectful but the guy is the most well known wrestler ever and they are giving him the Chris Benoit treatment even though guys like Cena have cheated with their wives and some famous wrestlers have done even worse crimes.

[exnoob]

If you owned the company, how would you go about dealing with this?? I'm actually curious to hear your opinion :)

*But just remember if you owned this company you need to keep your stock holders happy, and keeps that money rolling*

[spacedelete]

well i would fire him but remove every mention of him like he never existed ? thats a bit much. i'm certain Vince is racist himself and hates black people as well. only difference is he hasn't got caught saying it like Hogan has.

[C L O U D]

Yeah, I dunno about most of the users on this website...

I guess they like fraudulent people

funny thing is, he even called himself a racist lol

I will never support someone who said that ever in my life...anyone who has experienced it or has seen it will feel the same

[CorndogBurglar]

Finally a voice of reason. I made a similar comment above this. People here are acting like its ok to be racist as long as its in private. Never mind the fact that the public found out and now a company's reputation is on the line that had nothing to do with it.

But nope, people love the Hulkster to its okay this time.

It doesn't matter that it was in private. Its been made public now. So something has to give, and no company is going to continue marketing and supporting someone that can now be seen as a racist. Being in private or in public doesn't change what was said or what his true feelings are.

[rainslacker]

I don't think it's about being a closet racist. I think it's about wanting there to be a bit more fairness in how these things are approached. The villification of people before they've had their own side of the story told is just wrong.

Now, for a celebrity it's one thing, because they should know that everything they do is under the public's unreasonable and unforgivable eye, but this kind of stuff also happens to regular people with the modern age and social media, and way too many lives have been ruined because of things that often get taken out of context, and are often said in times of heightened emotions.

If I were to compare this to another instance where I actually supported the firing of the person, I would say Adam Orth comes to mind. Adam Orth was having a private conversation on a public "forum", and his comments struck the wrong cord. Was he deserving of being fired? I said yes, because of his position, and the fact it was public, he did something that affected the company directly and possibly(and inevitably did) release or imply trade secrets.

How does this relate to the current topic? Well, HH said his comments in private, to someone he had confidence in, and while his comment was inflammatory, he's never done anything that has shown that his racist beliefs were in any way hurting someone.

He's being vilified for his beliefs, and while I don't condone his beliefs or his words, I do not feel it's my place, or anyone else's to restrict his right to believe them or express them. Voltaire said, "I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend with my life your right to say them". The obvious extension of that is that while we can judge someone on those beliefs, they shouldn't be condemned into nothingness if they don't act on them, or it doesn't affect others...which it didn't in this incident.

With Adam Orth, I never said he didn't have the right to his beliefs, only that given they were expressed in a public form, in a very condescending way, and given his position, and given the rampant rumors of what was going on at the time, his conduct was unprofessional and hurtful to the company he worked for.

Hulk Hogan's words did not affect the WWE, nor did they affect the people who are being all upset about it. Had the conversation never been released, he could have retired and forever been loved by millions.

People seem extremely offended by what he said, and all I have to wonder is why? His words were not directed at you, nor are they about most of you. 99% of the people on here criticize SJW for being so sensitive in the name of political correctness, yet then go on to do the exact same thing in what is just a different form of political correctness and social justice warrioring.

[KING85]

It's unfortunate that many childhood memories of Hogan are tarnished. The simple fact is that WWE no longer wants to be associated with someone who made racist comments. Look at what happened to Paula Dean, Donald Sterling. She lost a lot too. It's true people are allowed to express their feelings and I don't fault him for that. It however does not mean people have to stand for those ideas expressed. I like Hogan as well, and perhaps his viewpoint has changed since years gone past. I howeve can't fathom how one can say he did not mean or wasn't a racist at this pint in conversation. I think we as a society sometimes like to obscure our judgment based on what we want reality to be.

[rainslacker]

The thing is, an entity employing someone who has beliefs which aren't politically correct does not imply that that company is supportive of those beliefs, or that they themselves have the same beliefs on a corporate level.

I'd be more impressed with a company that actually just treated it's employees like people, and simply stated that we're all human and we all are entitled to our beliefs if it doesn't actually hurt anyone.

Nowadays though, people put the pressure on these entities to make it seem like exactly that. Within any company, and from what I've seen professional sports in general, are full of really crappy people who harbor all sorts of prejudicial beliefs and have terrible issues with anger or narcissism, yet do we really believe that these institutions actually support such things? The only thing these companies support is their own bottom line, and all these social arguments are harmful to the bottom line. People want to punish the person who is offensive, and putting the screws to corporations is the only way they can really do it. They're being judge and jury, and are completely irrational at every slight. The internet has exacerbated the problem, because now it makes it seem that there are millions of people who care, when the truth is, most people couldn't give two sh*ts.

[trouble_bubble]

In the end it comes down to this. He said it at home a long time ago when he was emotionally charged up over his daughter, and he's paid the price via a back stab. So far he's also the only one who's apologized for anything.

He said sorry. He didn't kill himself after killing his family like Chris Benoit.

WWE is just gonna make things worse by breaking his neck in this corporate crossface instead of letting it go away quietly. WWE never apologized for any amount of their jerry Springer trashy "entertainment" like dragging coffins around in a car, atheist chest thumping by mocking God and beating him in a match, and years of sexually exploiting their divas in trashy HLA segments etc.

WWE trying to take the high road on anything at this point is ironic considering they've bern peddling crap like this for years to kids with their little "suck it" action figures etc. They're their own worst enemy. Just ask CM punk.

[WizzroSupreme]

Given his leaked "comments," can't blame 'em.

[TheOnlyMastrx]

So now we pay for content that should be included in the first place, and they can take that content away from us. I don't personally own it, but hopefully they are going to have some kind of refunds for those that did buy it. Cutting ties with him for present and future projects is understandable, but erasing any content regarding him thats already been released to consumers is really stupid.

[madjedi]

I really wish people were as noble in real life as they pretend to be online when someone is accused of or says something offensive.

Too many damn people are signing up for the executioners position, because someone said something offensive to some group or another.

So they are justified by their moral outrage to attack someone for their personal shortcomings.

This society needs to learn forgiveness and stop encouraging this I am offended. So i am entitled to sentence the offender to burn in hell for eternity mentality it has fostered.

For people that claim to want to enlighten or educate people to no longer be racist, all I really see is people kicking someone after they are already down because it is an easy target and they feel justified.

So can this standard be applied to all prejudice not just against specific protected groups.

People really need to look in their own closet and count their skeletons before they start attacking others for their past demons.

But that would asking too much in this modern the world revolves around me society.

So everyone that posted never one time said anything racist, homophobic or prejudice against any other religion or group in their entire life. Bullshit.

The less I have to deal with society and it's obsession with having to burning someone alive because they did something wrong, the better.

[Koopdogg]

There's a race war brewing,wake up and smell whats cooking

ahahahahahahahahahaha

No im actually being serious though :(