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Hogan camp apologizes for O.J. remarks

CNN file photo (2005)

The Bolleas, shown here on 'Larry King Live' in 2005, are going through a divorce.

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TBO.com staff

Published: April 15, 2009

Updated: 04/15/2009 10:26 pm

The melodrama over the acrimonious divorce of former pro wrestler Hulk Hogan is moving to Rolling Stone magazine and a much wider audience than the local one captivated by the couple's courtroom conflicts.

The iconic magazine, in an edition set to be published Friday, has a six-page story on Hogan that delves into his life and ongoing divorce.

Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, suffered through being forced from his multimillion dollar home by his estranged wife, Linda, who then settled in with a much younger beau, a 20-year old former dock worker named Charlie Hill.

The new man in her life was referred to in the story as "some shaggy-haired pool boy 30 years her junior."

In the interview, Hogan said the situation made him mad, and he compared his anger to O.J. Simpson.

"I could have turned everything into a crime scene, like O.J., cutting everybody's throat," he told Rolling Stone, according to the story. "You live half a mile from the 20,000-square-foot home you can't go to anymore, you're driving through downtown Clearwater and see a 19-year-old boy driving your Escalade, and you know that a 19-year-old boy is sleeping in your bed, with your wife ... I totally understand O.J. I get it."

Simpson was acquitted of killing his ex-wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ron Goldman in 1995. He later was found liable for the deaths in a civil suit.

Linda Bollea released a statement Wednesday afternoon through her publicist to Hogan's comments in the article.

"Hulk's serial cheating destroyed our marriage, our family and our future,'' Bollea said in the statement. "Sadly, his recent comments remind us that his definition of fair is much different than what the law dictates.''

In the statement, Linda Bollea's publicist, Gary Smith, refers to Hogan's statements in the article as "homicidal comments,'' and says, "We have always maintained that the fear that Linda has had to live with comes from the rage and instability much too often associated with pro wrestlers.''

The sister of Ron Goldman told Us magazine she was disturbed by Hogan's remarks.

"It's sick to me that people throw around violence so whimsically," Kim Goldman said. "That has always bothered me. Then there's the part of me that thinks, well at least he thinks he did it. The warped part of me.

"It's vile to speak of anybody in that way and its hurtful, demeaning and so many layers of ugliness attached to it. I'm always very sensitive to people saying they would kill someone," she goes on. "I don't speak that way anymore, so when I hear it, it has such meaning attached to it. It says a lot and speaks to his level of violence and propensity for it. Its sad."

Goldman's father Fred was angered by the comments. "O.J. consumed two lives to feed his insane ego," he told Us through his lawyer, David Cook. "Mr. Hogan should dial down the rage ... Grow up."

Hogan's lawyer, David Houston, says the O.J. comments leaked from the article are out of context. He says Hogan would never harm anyone in this divorce drama because of his personal beliefs and value system. "He's told people that's what keeps him going and from reacting the way O.J. did," Houston said.

Later, Hogan's camp released a statement clarifying his comments, according to Us magazine. "Hulk in no way condones the O.J. situation," the statement said. "As part of a larger conversation, he referred to it to exemplify his frustration with his own situation."

Hogan also talked about depression after his family, made famous during a reality show, "Hogan Knows Best," split during a bitter divorce. In the article Hogan says he thought about killing himself.

"I was drinking, eating Xanax," he said in the interview. "I couldn't sleep, I was in a trance. I was walking around the house with everyone gone, going, 'Where'd everybody go? How did this happen?' I got crazy. I started second guessing. 'Why keep going?' I gave my gun – I just have one, a 9mm – to my attorney. It didn't scare me. But the thought process was there. It wasn't good. It was real bad."

Other quotes from Hogan in the magazine article:

On what his son, Nick, told him about attracting trouble:

"Nick said, 'You're going to be so upset with me, but I have to tell you that the night before the accident, me and John [Graziano] sat up for hours, and all we did was watch car crashes on YouTube. I think I attracted the accident.'"

On his outlook:

"This is intermission for me. In the first half of the game, I did a lot of stuff … but that's nothing compared to what's going to happen in the second half. It's going to be the resurrection of Hulk Hogan, who could have been a great American tragedy – my son going to jail, the divorce, everything – but has decided to dust himself off and not only get back up but also move forward in life in a positive way."

Last week, Hogan took his fight to Pinellas Circuit divorce court, where he is trying to keep Hill from operating his fleet of luxury cars and boats. That decision is due in a week or two.

Sheri Stein, who runs a personal watercraft business at the Clearwater Marina, once employed Charlie Hill. She says she knows the Hogan family well.

Stein says Linda Bollea's relationship with Charlie Hill and the couple's partying in Hogan's mansion upsets the former wrestler but she doesn't think he's capable of the kind of violence O.J. was accused of commiting.

"He's one of the nicest people you'd ever meet," Stein said of Hogan. "The thing is obviously with everything going on with what she's demanding, there's going to be some anger and animosity."

Stein says she sees Hill and Linda Bollea out boating, drinking on the docks, and driving around town as often as four times a week; but with Hogan's assets dwindling by $40,000 a month, the party can't last forever. "One day the gravy train's gonna be over and it's gonna be soon," Stein said.

Meanwhile, the Hogan divorce drama will reach a fresh audience on newsstands Friday when Rolling Stone takes its turn digging into the family's dirty laundry and coloring in Hogan's own love interest, 33-year-old girlfriend Jennifer McDaniel. The former airline worker and cocktail waitress at the Doll House strip club now earns $4,000 a month as the Hulk's personal assistant for, among other things, shaving his back.

Information from Usmagazine.com was used in this report.

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