O’Shea Jackson Jr, the son of rapper Ice Cube, said that he booed Hulk Hogan during WWE’s Netflix debut due to previous racist comments made by the former wrestler.
WWE made its grand Netflix opening on 6 January with its flagship show, Monday Night Raw. Although the episode was positively received, Hogan’s surprise appearance overshadowed the show, as he was met with loud and vocal jeers.
The 71-year-old, real name Terry Bollea, appeared at the Intuitive Dome in Inglewood, Los Angeles as part of a deal with WWE and his new alcohol brand, Real American Beer. The veteran appeared stunned at the hostile reception he received from the crowd.
Speaking on the YouTube channel Sway’s Universe, Jackson Jr, who was in attendance on 6 January, was asked about the booing and admitted: “I was one of them. I’ll show you the video. Me, Eric Andre, and Wale were giving it to him!”
The 33-year-old actor explained his reaction was purely because of Hogan’s racist comments.
“The racism, bro. It’s just hard to forget how detailed that rant was,” he said. “If you look up his rant, it’s very detailed. I get a lot of people online who are like, ‘Well, he would be mad if he found out about that whole generation!’ Yeah, well, when I find out, I’ll be mad. But right now? Bringing him out here? What’d you think was gonna happen?”
Hogan, who is a vocal supporter of president-elect Donald Trump, was involved in a scandal in 2015 after a video emerged of him using racist language. Although Hogan apologised, his contract with WWE was terminated as a result. He was later reinstated in 2018 and has made sporadic appearances ever since.
In a recent interview with TMZ, WWE Hall of Famer Mark Henry said of the booing of Hogan that “right now, with the social climate and the things that he's said and done and his lack of effort to try to fix it, people are gonna come down on him”.
Jackson Jr is currently promoting his new action film Den of Thieves 2: Pantera, which he stars in alongside Gerard Butler.
The movie is hitting screens seven years after the original was released. The sequel follows the action of the first film, with Butler’s character “Big Nick” tracking Donnie (Jackson Jr) across Europe as he plans another heist on the world’s largest diamond exchange.
