Schwarzenegger defended South African apartheid and liked doing Hitler impressions

Posted on Sun, Aug. 24, 2003

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER AS ... THE CONTENDER
By Dion Nissenbaum
Mercury News Sacramento Bureau

[Excerpt]

Touchy subjects

Schwarzenegger didn't shy away from controversial views. He often got into heated battles with Rick Wayne -- a black bodybuilder from St. Lucia, a Caribbean island -- about one of the most emotional international issues of the 1970s: racial segregation in South Africa.

Wayne said Schwarzenegger defended the apartheid system and argued that white South Africans could not turn power over to black South Africans without ruining the nation.

``At the time, I just thought he was an out-and-out racist,'' Wayne said in a recent interview.

Schwarzenegger also appeared to have no qualms about telling Jewish jokes to his friends.

Wayne said he watched Schwarzenegger upset Jewish friend Joe Weider to the point of tears with his crass jokes, which included doing an impression of Hitler.

As their friendship evolved, Wayne said he came to understand Schwarzenegger's sense of humor.

Wayne once asked his friend how an Austrian immigrant had conquered Hollywood.

In a moment of ``pure mischief,'' he said, Schwarzenegger stood up, looked him ``straight in the eye and said, `Because I've got the greatest physique in the world, I'm sharp, I'm super talented.' Then he stood up, walked down the hall, looked over his shoulder and said: `And I'm white.' ''

What might have once set Wayne off now leaves him chuckling.

``Today I don't necessarily think he's a racist,'' he said. ``How are you a racist and have a black guy as your friend?''