Buzzfeed recently published an article regarding the ongoing sex tape lawsuit between WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan and Gawker. The article contained some excerpts from Hogan’s deposition for the case. Below are some highlights to Hogan answering questions for his deposition:
On how the geopolitical landscape of the early 1980s influenced his career: “Well, when the Hulkamania phenom first exploded, politically—we were at odds with Iran politically, and the character of Hulk Hogan is an all-American character. And I was wrestling for the WWE world heavyweight title against the Iron Sheik, who was the legitimate bodyguard of the Shah of Iran and a silver medalist amateur AAU wrestler. So the political environment was perfect at the time for an all-American hero to go against the real bodyguard of the Shah of Iran.”
Hogan on his talents as a professional wrestler: “In-ring instinct, cadence, physicality, reading a crowd, just a general overall understanding of the wrestling business inside and outside the ring, which it takes a lot of talent just to understand how things are done and execute them.”
Exchange between Gawker attorney Seth Berlin and Hogan regarding Hogan’s honesty:
Berlin: “Do you believe you have a reputation for honesty?”
Hogan: “Yes.”
Berlin: “For being a straight shooter?”
Hogan: “Yes.”
Berlin: “For telling it like it is?”
Hogan: “I don’t know about that one.”
Hogan’s definition of celebrity: “Celebrity? My definition is probably different than—than most people, I’m sure. But my definition of a celebrity is someone who’s been around long enough or mad enough f an impact doing radio or TV for whatever length of time it takes them to make a huge impact where they are recognizable by name, look, or vehicle that they—you know, they’re on, which is a movie or whatever it is. A celebrity—you know, there are so many people on TV now and the universe is so big with everybody being part of the media that I can’t y everybody that’s on TV or radio is a celebrity. To me a celebrity is someone that’s very, very well established nd is—is—you know. I don’t now how to explain it, just someone that’s very established in the celebrity world, if you—or whatever the word celebrity means.”
Does Hogan consider himself a celebrity by that definition: “At this point, yes.”
Hogan on how long he’s been a celebrity: “I would say from the mid ’80s on, I probably crossed the media barriers. And it started—I’m not sure if I—but in my opinion, my definition of what a celebrity is, I don’t know if I became a celebrity until the mid ’90s, but I started crossing some barriers in the ’80s, cover of Sports Illustrated and started doing talk shows. But I think it took a while before I came a household word or whatever the real word of celebrity means.”
Hogan on not being good with dates, years or names anymore after he said Hogan Knows Best having taken place in the mid-1990s and was then asked if mid-2000s was more accurate relative to the ages of his children: “Yeah. If we backed up from their ages, yeah, ‘m just not real good with dates or years or names, brother.”