Fitness Influencer Joey Swoll Issued an Apology After He Called Hulk Hogan His "Inspiration"

Long before Hulk Hogan died, he faced heavy backlash over recordings of him that were released in which he used racist words and made racially charged comments regarding his daughter Brooke Hogan dating a Black man. Following his death, fitness influencer Joey Swoll posted about the former WWE wrestler, whose real name is Terry Bollea, being his "inspiration." And from there, Joey found himself at the center of a major controversy with some followers calling for him to be canceled.

Per Newsweek, Hulk's comments on a leaked sex tape from 2007 that came out in 2012 led to public backlash. Later, he was removed from the WWE as a wrestling entertainer and even from the organization's Hall of Fame. He later faced controversy after his public endorsement of Donald Trump. Because of Joey's admiration for the late wrestler, new controversy arose involving Hulk even after his death.

Joey's brand is all about positivity and a healthy lifestyle, according to fans on social media. Because of that, he has more than 5 million Instagram followers, and more across other social media platforms. In a since-deleted post on X (formerly Twitter), Joey shared a workout video of himself dressed as Hulk, complete with the signature red and yellow feather boa, a headband, and even a fake mustache.

Although the post was taken down, people shared screenshots on X to express their thoughts on the controversy. In the original post, Joey wrote, "RIP to a legend and one of my inspirations to start working out." Because of Hulk's own controversies before his death, Joey found himself at the center of criticisms for his praise of Hulk.

While some came for Joey on X and called him a racist and misogynist, others criticized the influencer for backtracking and eventually releasing an apology for his post about Hulk. One user on X even called Joey a "sellout" for "bending to the woke mob" despite apparently supporting Joey prior to his apology.

After Joey deleted the post about Hulk, he shared a video across his social media accounts, in which he apologizes for his actions.

"I didn't know the extent of all the horrible things that he had done. Since last night, I've done a lot of research," he says in his video. "And learned all of the horrible, horrible things that man has done, which is way more than just making a mistake and being human. So because of that, I have taken the videos down, and I apologize to anybody that I have offended."

After he posted his apology video, Joey shared a post on X where he gave more of his thoughts regarding the backlash he received amid the controversy involving Hulk. In his post, he wrote that everything he has done on social media for others is "all for nothing" now.

He ended the post by writing, "Thank you for your support. I am done."