Just over a year has passed since pro wrestling legend Hulk Hogan suddenly passed away at the age of 71, amidst plans to get a new wrestling promotion going. But while the athlete had rekindled many of his connections that were soured after racist comments made in 2015 about his daughter Brooke Hogan’s then-boyfriend — and was reinstated into the WWE Hall of Fame just three years later — his relationship with his daughter seemingly never returned to full-strength, and fans continue to share judgmental opinions about them, much to Brooke’s disgust.
The musician and former reality star took to TikTok to share a lengthy and highly pointed message directed at anyone out in the world who continues to speak with presumed authority about the father-daughter duo. She is not welcoming any such unsolicited and indirect criticisms from those who have only experienced the Hogan families trials and tribulations from afar, kicking it off with this very telling statement: “I can't believe I even have to make a post reminding human beings how to be human.” She continued:
First of all, you can take a trip down memory lane on Google and see what him and I went through publicly, and if you can imagine the damage it did privately, along with other things I've never spoken about, I am allowed to be very hurt and very, very allowed to draw boundaries. I am also allowed to mourn and miss. I have cried every day since he died, every day the bags in my eyes, the tired, is this is grief. I'm doing everything I can to hold it together as a human being, and you guys have the balls to judge.
While Hulk Hogan's death amassed tons of heartfelt messages from fellow wrestlers and others in the biz, Brooke Hogan initially stayed private with her thoughts, and opted not to attend his funeral, and instead spent the day honoring his memory at the beach with her family. (Including the twins born in January 2025 that never had a chance to meet their grandfather.)
The wife and mother explained that she was previously very close with her dad, and that their relationship was even stronger than what others perceived it to be from Hogan Knows Best and other TV appearances. She continued:
I had a very real relationship with my dad. I spent 15 years with his second wife Jennifer at every surgery, flying down on my own dime while I was waiting tables. I loved..I love my dad. I miss him terribly. Me and him had such a tight bond. What you saw on TV was the tip of the iceberg. Me and him were so tight; we were thick as thieves. But somewhere I lost him along the way, and I kept losing him, and he kept losing himself. And that I can't explain.
In her video, Hogan claims to have been the dependable glue that held the family together, but that she was unable to continue forward in that role without any additional support, and that starting her own family made it even less possible.
To that end, Brooke Hogan says the onus was on her dad to make the effort to meet his grandchildren, and that he didn't step up. And now she's done trying to defend herself against online commenters who only want to start messes. In her words:
By the way, my husband asked my dad if he wanted to meet our kids. I don't even know if my dad had his phone. Let's put it that way: judge people by the fruit they bear. Not one person who has criticized me has a life I wish I had. So I don't care if I succeed slower, I don't care if my goodness shows later. I don't have to put on a show. I don't have to pretend. Liars need good memories, so make of it what you want. But I loved my dad beyond. I think he knew it too, and I think he knew it at the end.
Hulk Hogan's complicated story was set to be brought to the big screen with Chris Hemsworth portraying the Hulkamania founder, but the athlete backed out of the biopic partially due to worries over how the film would depict his more negative career moments. Ben Affleck and Matt Damon were also teaming on a film centering on the massive Gawker lawsuit, but that project has seemingly also been in limbo.
It's unclear if Brooke Hogan would have been written into either of those films, nor whether she would have allowed it in the first place. But hopefully she gets some relief from the online grief that she's dealt with.
