Brooke Hogan, the daughter of late wrestling icon Hulk Hogan, has spoken out after choosing not to attend his funeral on Tuesday.
Hogan’s devastated friends and family gathered at the Indian Rocks Baptist Church in Largo, Florida to say their final goodbyes to the WWE legend after his death from a cardiac arrest at age 71.
However, Brooke, who shared a tense relationship with her dad towards the end of his life, did not attend the service. Instead, she took the personal decision to celebrate her father’s life in her own private way.
‘My father hated the morbidity of funerals. He didn’t want one,’ Brooke, 37, explained on Instagram Tuesday evening.
‘And although I know people grieve in many ways – and I’m so grateful for all celebrations and events organized to honor him, as his daughter, I had to make my own decision to honor him the best way I knew how…privately…the way that made me feel the closest to him. The only thing missing today was him in is pop up lawn chair watching the waves… and the sunset.’
Alongside her emotional caption, the TV personality, who welcomed twins – a boy and a girl – wither her husband, ex-NHL player Steven Oleksy in January, shared a series of touching photos of the young family.
Earlier in the day, Brooke had announced that she would be taking her children to Hogan’s ‘favorite place’, the beach. And her carousel of photos, showed the twins, Oliver Andrew and Molly Gene, frollicking in the water as she and Oleksy held them along the shore.
‘Daddy, we honored you in the simplest, most genuine way that agreed with my soul. We took our babies to the beach, and put them in the same salty waters you loved,’ she continued.
‘Molly loved the water. I think she’ll be a “little fish” as you called me. We love you and honor the things that made you so special. Every grain of sand and every wave reminded me of being your beach baby, and brought us closer to you. I pray you are at peace and know how dearly I love you.
‘Rest in heaven, Daddy❤️’
It was revealed last week that Brooke, who is the daughter of Hogan and his ex-wife Linda, would not inherit a single dime from his will.
Hulk welcomed Brooke as well as son Nick, 35, with Linda – whom he was married to from 1983 to 2009.
He later tied the knot with Jennifer McDaniel in 2010 until their divorce in 2021. Two years later, the WWE legend said ‘I do’ to Sky Daily and the pair were married up until his death.
Hogan, real name Terry Bollea, died from a cardiac arrest on July 24 and was also fighting leukemia at the time of his passing. He had been taken ill at his home in Clearwater, Florida before being pronounced dead in hospital.
By then, Hogan had gone years without speaking to Brooke, 37, and, according to Oleksy, had ‘no interest’ in meeting his daughter’s twins.
The family rift spilled into the open earlier this year , when Hogan’s ex-wife Linda branded him a ‘complete liar’ and a ‘sex addict’, while Brooke claimed she was ‘verbally and mentally abused’ during her childhood.
And earlier this month, Oleksy has opened up on why Brooke turned away from her dad.
Hogan married his third wife, Daily, in 2023. Brooke did not attend the wedding but her husband told PEOPLE that it was ‘not the case at all’ that Brooke cut communications because she disapproved of the relationship. In fact, Oleksy accused Hogan of pushing that false narrative.
‘My wife will say it — it had nothing to do with his new wife. It had to do with the way he treated (Brooke),’ Oleksy said. ‘It was a situation where she loved her dad very, very much.’
But Oleksy claimed that Brooke paid a heavy price for standing by her father, who was caught at the center of several scandals – including when he used racial slurs in reference to her ex-boyfriend. That support had ‘really taken a toll on her,’ her husband said.
Oleksy and Brooke tied the knot in June 2022 without Hogan. Oleksy claims that the wrestling legend told him he ‘doesn’t do weddings or funerals anymore.’
And the final straw, according to Oleksy, was a ‘series of phone calls’ between father and daughter when ‘there were some things said, and a lot of mistruths.’
Following Hogan’s death, Brooke released a heartbreaking statement in which she said she ‘had to step away to protect my heart.’
‘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.’
She continued: ‘We had a connection deeper than words, one that spanned lifetimes. I am so grateful I knew the real version of him. Not just the one the world viewed through a carefully curated lens.
‘We shared a quiet, sacred bond, one that could be seen and felt by anyone who witnessed us together. When he left this earth, it felt like part of my spirit left with him. I felt it before the news even reached us.’
Towards the end of his life, Brooke claimed, Hogan ‘made a choice to walk the path that clearly tore at his spirit,’ adding that she ‘felt a disconnect. What followed were respectful disagreements that took an emotional toll on me.’
‘During the last two years, I had to step away to protect my heart. My husband stayed open, quietly reaching out to my dad without me knowing, trying to find a safe way back in for me. After my father passed, I read those messages, some answered, some ignored… but all of them broke my heart.’
She insisted: ‘We never had a “big fight.” My father and I never “fought.” It was a series of private phone calls no one will ever hear, know, or understand.’
Earlier this week, it was revealed that Brook won’t be left anything in her father’s will .
According to TMZ , the 37-year-old feared being caught up in a bitter financial battle in the wake of her father’s death and didn’t trust anyone in his inner circle.
So she asked to be removed as a beneficiary of his estate in 2023 – the same year as her final conversation with the wrestling icon.
Brooke reportedly attempted to address the issue with her father but after years of disagreements and her words falling on deaf ears, she contacted his financial manager and made the decision to be excluded from the will.
Hogan’s estate is estimated to be worth $25million, according to reports. Brooke is the daughter of Hogan and his ex-wife Linda – to whom he was married from 1983 to 2009.
More to follow.
