Hulk Hogan Accused Of Firing Black Influencer And Replacing Her With White Ambassadors To Promote New Beer
A Black influencer is accusing Hulk Hogan of firing her because of her race and replacing her with white ambassadors instead.
Essence Jenai made the accusation against the ex-WWE Hall of Famer on TikTok where she shared a series of images with Hogan promoting his Real American Beer beverage on Saturday.
"POV: Hulk Hogan paid you to be a brand ambassador and canceled your contract the next day because he realized you were a BLACK brand ambassador," she captioned the post, which has since gone viral.
@essencejenai @Hulk Hogan thanks for making it clear that you don't work with BLACK brand ambassadors. #fypage #hulkhogan #brandambassador ♬ Shake Dat Ass (Twerk Song) - BossMan Dlow
The content creator claims she was booked to promote the drink for one week but her contract was terminated after one day on the job in a follow-up post.
"Essence. You didn't do anything wrong at all in fact, I'm sure you did great. But this client wants us to cancel the rest of the events this week. I'm really sorry!," she shared in a screenshot of a text exchange. It's unclear who she was messaging when asked about the nature of the firing.
According to the message thread, all promotional events were canceled, but the TikToker shared pictures of Hogan, 70, still promoting his brand, but with white brand ambassadors instead.
Hogan has not commented publicly on the accusations against him.
This isn't the first time Hogan, real name Terry Gene Bollea, has been accused of discrimination and racism.
In 2015, Hogan was terminated from the WWE after racist remarks he made in 2007 resurfaced online. The retired professional wrestler expressed his disapproval of his daughter Brooke Hogan dating a Black man while using racial slurs during a rant. Hogan admitted that he is "a racist, to a point," but issued an apology to 'PEOPLE.'
"Eight years ago I used offensive language during a conversation," he said. "It was unacceptable for me to have used that offensive language; there is no excuse for it; and I apologize for having done it."
"This is not who I am. I believe very strongly that every person in the world is important and should not be treated differently based on race, gender, orientation, religious beliefs or otherwise," he continued. "I am disappointed with myself that I used language that is offensive and inconsistent with my own beliefs."
