The passing of WWE Hall of Famer Terry “Hulk Hogan” Bollea has left many with mixed feelings including his daughter, Brooke Hogan.
The professional wrestling world is still reeling after Hulk Hogan passed away at age 71 on July 24, 2025, reportedly from acute myocardial infarction, commonly referred to as a heart attack. However, his daughter is speaking out about not being included in part of special televised tributes for her father.
Brooke Hogan, 37, took to social media to address fans who called her out for not appearing on USA’s “Friday Night Smackdown” or Netflix’s “Monday Night Raw” following Hogan’s passing.
WWE honored the eight-time WrestleMania headliner with a 10-bell salute at the top of both of the promotion’s weekly shows on its July 25 and 28 shows. Members of the WWE roster, as well as company executives stood on stage before a tribute video highlighted Hogan’s nearly 50-year wrestling career.
Hogan’s 35-year-old son, Nick Hogan, made his first public appearance on “Monday Night Raw” since losing his dad. His older sister, Brooke, was not present for the memorial presented in the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.
“For those of you giving me crap for not attending my dad’s tributes, @wwe did not extend an invite,” Brooke wrote in her Instagram story on July 30 after critics complained about her not attending the WWE events in recent days.
That response came one day after she initially broke her silence on the news of her father being deceased.
The “About Us” singer posted a lengthy statement on her Instagram page as a six-slide carousel. Despite reports of her being estranged from the multi-time world champion, Brooke praised their relationship.
“My dad’s blood runs through my veins. His eyes shine through my children. And our bond has never broken, not even in his final moments,” the mother of five-month-old twins Oliver and Molly wrote. “We had a connection deeper than words, one that spanned lifetimes.”
WWE watchers weighed in on Brooke’s revelation that she was apparently not welcomed to “Raw” or “Smackdown.”
An angered fan asked, “Why the f–k would they invite Nick and not Brooke? What the actual f–k?” A second person on the platform proclaimed, “Very, very bizarre.”
A third individual also seemed confused at her omission, writing, “That’s honestly surprising. Brooke Hogan deserved to be there to honor her father’s legacy.”
Some even believe this was her way of distancing herself from her family, including one person who said, “Well she doesn’t want to be remembered as a Hogan.”
Another claimed, “They knew she wouldn’t have gone anyways.”
However, another Brook supporter offered, “If someone in the company didn’t call to give her the option, that’s pretty low. Family drama or not, she deserved to make that choice.”
In her Instagram statement, Brooke reflected on her complex bond with the Hulkster. She acknowledged they had “respectful disagreements that took an emotional toll” which caused her to withdraw from him in the final days of his life.
“The media has been convoluting the narrative and I feel it necessary to clear a few things up. We never had a ‘big fight.’ My father and I never ‘fought,’” Brooke stated before later adding, “During the last two years, I had to step away to protect my heart.”
Brooke went on to express feeling “at peace” knowing her father understood how much she loved him before he passed. She said she moved closer to Hogan in Florida at one point due to his health and has supported him through 25 different surgeries over the years. Although things changed after she gave birth to her twins, she still encouraged people to celebrate Hogan.
However, her husband, former NHL player Steve Oleksy, has still been in contact with her dad over the years. He even defended his wife’s decision to financially separate herself amid reports she asked to have her name removed from Hulk’s will in 2023.
“That money does not represent accomplishments in the ring — the majority of it came at the expense of my wife’s dignity. It was built on hurtful comments about her and her past relationship, which caused pain not only to her, but to many other families,” Oleksy, 39, explained to Us Weekly for a July 30-dated article.
He also told the outlet, “My wife was put in a position to defend someone without knowing the full truth — unaware the remarks were tied to a [intimate] tape and that the context and use of the derogatory language was directed at her and her ex, and conveniently misinformed of the transcripts.”
“You know it’s serious when your own daughter taps out before the will drops,” added one critic.
Hogan’s legacy as a public figure became extremely divisive over the past decade after secretly recorded audio of the grappler using the N-word surfaced in July 2015. He was also heard admitting to being disgusted with Brooke dating a Black man at the time.
Backlash forced WWE to remove Hogan from the promotion’s website and Hall of Fame in 2015 before reinstating him three years later after he denied having prejudiced views about non-white people.
“I never should have said what I said. It was wrong. I’m embarrassed by it. But a lot of people need to realize that you inherit things from your environment,” Hogan said in a September 2015 interview with ABC News.
Despite trying to walk back his previously hateful remarks, Hogan still faced significant backlash due to his casual use of the racial slur and his support of MAGA leader Donald Trump.
Hogan’s last appearance on WWE programming was marred by overwhelming negative feedback from the Los Angeles crowd. In January 2025, the live audience inside the Intuit Dome for the Netflix premiere of “Monday Night Raw” booed Hogan out of the building.
As far as his impact on the wrestling business, Hogan is credited as the main driving force that elevated the WWE (then known as the WWF) from a regional promotion in the 1980s to a global phenomenon. He also helped lift the WWF’s main rival, WCW, to the No. 1 wrestling company in the world by 1996.
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