Obama says he punched classmate in the face, breaking his nose, after being called a racial slur

Obama told the story of the fight on an episode of his new podcast with rock star Bruce Springsteen entitled "Renegades: Born In The USA."

"Listen, when I was in school, I had a friend. We played basketball together," Obama told Springsteen. "And one time we got into a fight and he called me a c---. Now first of all, ain’t no c---s in Hawaii, right?" Obama joked.

"It’s one of those things that — where he might not even known what a c--- was — what he knew was, 'I can hurt you by saying this,'" he continued. "And I remember I popped him in the face and broke his nose. And we were in the locker room."

Springsteen replied, "Well done."

"I explained to him — I said, 'Don’t you ever call me something like that,'" Obama added.

The podcast is believed to be the first time the former President has mentioned the incident publicly, according to The Hill.

Obama added that using racial slurs is congruent to "an assertion of status over the other."

The Renegades: Born In The USA podcast is an ongoing conversation between the two celebrities about their past experiences with racism and "the uncomfortable conversations we need to have," according to the Washington Examiner.