In an interview that appeared on Good Morning America on ABC earlier today, an emotional Hulk Hogan begged for forgiveness after audio from his sex tape was released which included a bunch of racist slurs.

Hogan explained how at the time he was upset over something that happened between his daughter and her then-boyfriend and when the tape was recorded – without his approval – he was at a point where he wanted to kill himself.

“I was completely broken and destroyed and said, ‘What’s the easiest way out of this?’ I mean, I was lost,” Hogan said, admitting that he was also suicidal. Back in 2009, Hogan credited Laila Ali for saving his life, calling him on the phone just in time as he held a revolver. Ali called to check on him after she saw him depressed on the set of American Gladiators.

When ABC News’ Amy Robach asked him if he was a racist, Hogan replied, “I’m not a racist but I never should have said what I said. It was wrong. I’m embarrassed by it.” Hogan blamed his past environment for constantly using the n-word. “People need to realize that you inherit things from your environment. And where I grew up was south Tampa, Port Tampa, and it was a really rough neighborhood, very low income. And all my friends, we greeted each other saying that word.”

Asked whether it was fair to say that he inherited a racial bias, Hogan agreed that he did. “I would say that is very fair. The … the environment I grew up in in south Tampa and all my white friends, all my black friends, to hear the word on a daily basis when they’d greet me in the morning, that’s what they’d say to me, ‘Good morning,’ so-and-so,” he said. “I think that was part of the culture and the environment I grew up in and I think that’s fair to say.”

Hogan then asked for his fans’ forgiveness. “Oh, my gosh. Please forgive me. Please forgive me. I think if you look at the whole picture of who Hulk Hogan is, you can see over all the years that there’s not a racist bone in my body.”

The former WWE and WCW champion said that he was shocked when he was done from the WWE a few months ago following the scandal and it was devastating for him.

“I’ve worked for the WWE for almost 30 years off and on…and then all of a sudden, everything I’ve done my whole career and my whole life was like it never happened,” Hogan said, referring to WWE completely wiping him off from their properties.

“You know, just because a person makes a mistake, just don’t throw them away. You don’t throw good people away … I refuse to believe that one thing that I did, which is not who I am, is the beginning of my demise,” he said. “I think it’s going to open up a lot of eyes and I’m accountable. I did it. I if I did something, I’ll tell you, I did it.”

You can see the interview below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxQeScQE9TQ