Where is Joey Swoll from? Brett Cooper supports influencer amid Hulk Hogan controversy, claims he “bent a knee to the worst bullies on Earth”

Fitness influencer Joey Swoll found himself at the center of a social media controversy after paying tribute to the late wrestling legend Hulk Hogan. The backlash escalated to the point where Swoll briefly quit social media before defiantly returning, a saga that has drawn reactions from commentators like Brett Cooper, who accused him of surrendering to online outrage culture.

Joey Swoll, whose real name is Joseph Sergo, was born on January 11, 1983, near Chicago, Illinois. Known widely as the "CEO of Gym Positivity," Swoll reposted an old video of him working out in a Hulk Hogan costume after the WWE star died on July 24, 2025.

Hulk Hogan, born Terry Bollea, was a controversial name in the WWE as he was fired from his deal with the company in 2015 after recordings of him using racial slurs were unearthed.

Joey Swoll, who has garnered a following of more than five million on Instagram by outing gym bullies and spreading positivity, initially defended his tribute to Hogan as someone he looked up to in his childhood.

However, backlash intensified during a live stream where Swoll used the outdated term "colored" instead of "person of color," further fueling criticism.

Under mounting pressure, Swoll apologized on July 29, claiming he had since researched Hulk Hogan’s controversies and was unaware of their severity. He removed the tribute video and vowed to "do better."

Brett Cooper took to her podcast, The Brett Cooper Show, on July 31 to suggest that Swoll was being unfairly singled out. Cooper proposed that Swoll was only apologizing as a response to the outrage, rather than a sincere change of heart.

"This was not like a genuine like, oh yes, let me go research this stuff. It was purely pressure," she said. "And it's so unfortunate...He just goes out and he defends good people who should be defended. He, you know, stands up to bullies. That's what he does all the time. And now he just bent a knee to the worst bullies on earth, the Instagram and Tik Tok and Twitter mob that have no life other than sitting online and policing people's speech."

---

Joey Swoll quits, then returns to social media after Hulk Hogan backlash

Rattled by the negative response, on July 30, 2025, Joey Swoll wrote on X that he was quitting social media.

"But no matter how much good you do, people just wait for a reason to hate you and tear you down," he wrote. "You either die a hero, or live long enough to be the villain."

However, just days later, on August 2, he uploaded a comeback video captioned, "My message is do better, NOT be perfect." Swoll explained he needed some time to "step back, to breathe, to get my mind right."

He stated that he refused to be canceled and was now ready to continue his journey of calling out gym bullies.

"Love me or hate me, I am not going anywhere and you are not going to cancel me," he said.

Joey Swoll’s case highlights the precarious nature of online influence, where even well-intentioned figures can face rapid backlash over perceived missteps.