Overview

The Joey Swoll Hulk Hogan and Racist Slur Apology Controversy refers to backlash towards fitness influencer Joey Swoll after he apologized for posting a video of himself in a Hulk Hogan costume following Hogan's death. Swoll deleted the video after receiving criticism from viewers on a TikTok LIVE stream, where he initially defended his Hogan post. In his apology video, Joey Swoll claimed he did not know about Hogan's controversial past. He also apologized for referring to people of color as "colored" during the same live stream. The apology was widely criticized by his followers, many of whom saw it as disingenuous, as Swoll bowing to the so-called "woke mob," by not standing by his convictions and showing weakness. In response, Swoll made a post suggesting he might quit social media, but later hedged his claim.

Background

Hulk Hogan Post

On July 25th, 2025, following the news of Hulk Hogan's death, Joey Swoll made a now-deleted post on X sharing a video of himself working out in a Hulk Hogan outfit. The post was captioned, "RIP to a legend and one of my inspirations to start working out. @HulkHogan." The post has been reposted several times.^[1]

On July 27th, Joey Swoll hosted a TikTok LIVE stream. During the stream, some chatters purportedly criticized Joey for celebrating Hulk Hogan through his X post. The main reason for the criticism seems to be a controversy where Hulk Hogan went on a racist rant.^[2] A clip of the stream was archived by YouTuber^[3] No Rules Film School, which shows Joey defending his Hogan post and referring to people of color as "colored," saying that if people are coming after him, they should also come after "the colored athletes" that posted him as well.

Swoll's defense of Hogan and use of the slur was called out not only by his chatters, but by social media users. Most notably, on July 28th, TikToker^[4] @blackdevelopmentnetwork posted a video complaining about both topics that gained over 1.4 million views in two days.

Developments

Apology Video

On July 28th, 2025, Joey Swoll posted an apology video to Instagram^[5] and TikTok,^[6] garnering over 166,000 likes on the former and 6.8 million views on the latter in two days. In the video, he apologizes for posting about and defending Hogan, claiming he didn't know the extent of the "horrible things" Hogan has done. He also apologizes for using the racial slur during his stream, claiming he didn't know it was offensive.

Many of the top comments under the videos criticize Joey for caving to his beliefs, seeing the apology as disingenuous. For example, a comment with over 35,000 likes on the Instagram upload that reads, "I’m offended that you took the video down and apologized." Another with over 3,800 likes reads, "Is this really happening? Are we submitting to the woke agenda."

In contrast, Joey's girlfriend, Crystal Reneau, left a comment on TikTok reading:

As his girlfriend, and someone from a biracial family, I couldn’t be more proud of the man he is. Every day, I see how he treats people, with genuine respect, compassion, and the kind of integrity that shows even when things get tough.
This one moment doesn’t erase the good he brings to the world. He didn’t have to apologize, but he chose to because he cares, and because people matter to him. That’s strength and maturity.

Response To Continued Backlash

On July 29th, 2025, Joey Swoll made a post to X^[7] responding to the backlash he received, garnering over 97,000 likes in a day. In the post he suggests he is quitting social media, writing:

All the good I've done, all the people I've helped, all for nothing. I truly hope all the people I've inspired do great things in their life and pay it forward to help others and carry on my message. But no matter how much good you do, people just wait for a reason to hate you and tear you down. You either die a hero, or live long enough to be the villain. Thank you for your support. I am done.

On July 30th, he left a follow-up to the statement as a comment under the original thread. In the statement, he talks about receiving death threats and people threatening his girlfriend. He writes, "That made me FURIOUS and disgusted with people. I lost it. So yea, maybe I am done with social media or need to take a break and get my head right. But I will say there so many incredible people being supportive and telling me how much I’ve helped them, to be stronger, and keep fighting."

Online Reactions

Joey Swoll's defense of Hulk Hogan garnered him significant backlash online and so did his apology for defending Hogan. For example, on July 26th, 2025, X^[8] user @Whatyamccaulit posted a meme criticizing Swoll for celebrating his "racist idol," garnering over 1,700 likes in four days.

On July 28th, prior to Swoll's apology, TikToker^[9] @advicefromlouisreloaded posted a video criticizing Joey, breaking down exactly what Hogan did that was so offensive, garnering over 2.6 million views in two days. T

That day, X^[10] user @prmade313raised reposted the apology video, calling it disingenuous, writing, "I want to believe this is a genuine apology, but it comes off more like damage control. The TikTok video spoke volumes about your true feelings toward people of color. It shouldn’t take two rounds of backlash for you to educate yourself," garnering over 7,000 likes in two days.

On July 30th, TikToker @advicefromlouisreloaded's video was reposted to the /r/fauxmoi^[11] subreddit, titled, "Joey Swoll, who has made himself an authority on who gets cancelled on the internet, gets cancelled for being racist on the internet," garneringo over 2,200 upvotes in a day.

Search Interest

External References