INSIDE EDITION talks to Hulk Hogan about a lawsuit he’s filed against his ex-wife for claiming he had a gay affair with fellow wrestler Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake.
Hulk Hogan is outraged by his ex-wife's claim that he's secretly gay.
INSIDE EDITION's Les Trent spoke with Hulk Hogan.
Hogan said, "I didn't expect out-and-out lies."
Trent asked, "Hulk, I'm afraid to ask you this because you might beat me up, but are you gay?"
"No brother, I'm not. And if I was a homosexual, I'd tell you," said Hulk.
The wrestling legend has filed this defamation lawsuit against Linda Hogan, following a recent radio interview in which she was asked if she believes Hulk had an intimate relationship with fellow wrestler Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake.
In the radio interview, Linda said, "Wow, let me think about how to answer this so I don't end up getting a lawsuit. Well, a little bird told me, yes, they think they did."
Brutus Beefcake, real name Ed Leslie, is the Hulk's best friend and also denies they had a gay relationship.
Hulk told INSIDE EDITION, "She brought a friend of mine, a lifelong friend of mine, Ed Leslie, Bruce "The Barber" Beefcake, [into this] and he's a got a 15-year-old daughter who's going to high school. So she's affecting a lot of people and lot of lives and it has to stop."
Hulk and Linda went through a bitter divorce after 24 years of marriage. She then took up with a 22-year-old boyfriend. And Hulk has remarried a Linda Hogan look-a-like.
Hulk's lawsuit says he was also defamed in Linda's book, Wrestling the Hulk--My Life Against the Ropes, by claims that he physically abused her and "held me down on the bed with his hands around my throat during arguments...I was always afraid he would kill me in one of his rages."
Hulk said, "Never happened. There was a lot of yelling and screaming and I was at the receiving end. And yes, I did yell back. But there was never any physical violence."
In June Linda told the Today show she was afraid she'd die like O.J. Simpsons' slain wife, Nicole.
"That is something that scared me. I did not want to be a statistic like Nicole Brown Simpson," said Linda on the Today show.
Trent said to Hulk, "It sounds like she is saying that she was afraid for her life when she was with you."
"I don't understand why none of this was said during the divorce. And now, all of sudden, she's trying to sell books and she's got all these new, fictional stories," said Hulk.
Wil Florin of the Tampa-based law firm Florin-Roebig says Linda's claims have damaged Hulk's all-American image.
"She claims that he abused her during the marriage. That he physically was violent with her. And this simply is not true. So I don't know how much more egregious you can get than that allegation," said Florin.
Hulk Hogan told Trent he'll fight his ex-wife to the bitter end to clear his name.
"People know who I am and they know that I'm not any of those things that she said I was," said Hulk.
