Long before he became President of the United States, Barack Obama was called a racial slur by someone who he thought was a friend—and let’s just say that things didn’t end well for that guy.

Obama, 59, opened up about the racist encounter during an episode of his new Spotify podcast, Renegades: Born in the USA, which he co-hosts with legendary artist, Bruce Springsteen. “Listen, when I was in school, I had a friend. We played basketball together,” he began, recalling his time attending high school in Hawaii. “And one time we got into a fight and he called me a c**n.”

{snip} “It’s one of those things that—where he might not even known what a c**n was—what he knew was, ‘I can hurt you by saying this.’” Then, Obama recounted his reaction. “I remember I popped him in the face and broke his nose. {snip}” Obama recalled. “And I explained to him — I said, ‘Don’t you ever call me something like that.’” Springsteen, who is a friend of Obama’s, shared his support. “Well done,” he replied.

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