Dwayne Johnson Comments On Hulk Hogan’s Racist Rant; Talks HBO Docu ‘Rock In A Hard Place’ – TCA
“I was pretty disappointed with what I heard.” Such was Dwayne Johnson’s response today at TCA during HBO’s Ballers session when asked about the latest headlines about his WWE colleague Hulk Hogan aka Terry Bollea and his racially charged comments arising out of a 2012 sex tape –an incident which has cost Hogan his career at WWE.
“I’ve known Terry for years,” Johnson said via satellite. “My dad help trained him in Florida in the 1970s, and even my uncle. I come from a long line of professional wrestlers. I didn’t know (BOllea) to be a racist. It’s one of those things where it’s not definite in terms of what he said. We’ve all talked trash. He said what he said, and he’s paying the price.”
Amid chatter about Johnson’s sports career and Ballers, HBO programming chief Michael
Lombardo prodded the action star to talk about Rock In A Hard Place, a new documentary he is working on for HBO. It’s a project that Johnson considers “near and dear to my heart.” The former wrestling icon known as The Rock mentioned it was “a blessing in disguise” when his family was evicted and forced to move out of the state of Hawaii. Johnson said he was heading down the wrong path and “I’m lucky I didn’t wind up in prison.” The actor told the TCA corps that he was asked to speak to the cadets at a military boot camp in Florida’s Dade County that doubles as a correctional facility. The camp has an excellent success rate in regard to cleaning up and transforming criminals into excellent citizens. Johnson was so moved by the stories coming out the camp, he teamed up with 44 Blue Productions, which is behind Lockup, to bring the institution’s triumphs to light in the documentary.
Related stories
Starz's Chris Albrecht Responds To HBO Boss Michael Lombardo's 'Survivor's Remorse' Dig
'Ballers' Renewed For Season 2 By HBO
'True Detective' Up In Return, 'Ballers' Off To Strong Ratings Start, 'The Brink' Solid
Get more from Deadline.com: Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Newsletter
