Brooke Hogan is breaking her silence to honor her father, pro wrestling legend Hulk Hogan, who died July 24 at age 71 after suffering a sudden cardiac arrest.
“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 younger Hogan, 37, wrote in a July 29 tribute she shared on Instagram.
“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,” she continued.
The former “Hogan Knows Best” star, who had been estranged from her father in recent years, said she and the wrestler “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,” she went on. “He used to remind me, ‘All of this is temporary and I’ll always find my way back to you.’ I truly believe that — we will find each other in every lifetime.”
She also explained in her tribute that she wanted to “clear a few things up” about her relationship with her father.
She recalled that she and her husband, former pro hockey player Steven Oleksy, moved to Florida to be closer to her father as he was “getting older.”
But, after she supported her father through “almost 25 surgeries,” he suddenly “didn’t want” her to be by his side for further procedures.
“Everything started getting covered in a thick veil,” the younger Hogan wrote. “It was like there was a force field around him that I couldn’t get through.”
So she made the decision “during the last two years” to “step away to protect my heart.”
“All I ever wanted from my father was love, honesty and a deep connection,” she wrote. “And for a few special years, I had that — with memories that will last a lifetime. My world is forever changed. But I’m deeply blessed with a loving husband and two beautiful children who remind me every day of life’s greatest gifts.”
Brooke Hogan followed up by sharing a video on Instagram filled with images of her and her father. “Our bond is eternal. That truth brings me comfort and hope, even in your absence,” she wrote.
Months before the wrestler’s death, Brooke Hogan confirmed she had gone no-contact with both her parents in recent years.
She opened up about the estrangement after her mother, Hulk Hogan’s ex-wife Linda Hogan, revealed March 2025 in a tearful video in her Instagram story that her daughter had cut ties with her “around eight years ago.”
Linda Hogan blamed the mother-daughter rift on her on her ex-husband, and described the former wrestler as a “sex addict” and a “complete liar.”
Brooke Hogan responded to her mother’s video the following day to explain she had “completely separate reasons” for stopping communication with her parents.
“I have been EXTREMELY verbally and mentally abused since childhood,” she wrote at the time.
“Sadly, it would frequently turn physical,” she added.
TODAY.com reached out to both Linda Hogan and Hulk Hogan for comment at the time, and did not receive a response.
Hulk Hogan and Linda Hogan were married for 26 years and also shared a 35-year-old son, Nick Hogan, who shared a tribute to his late father two days after his death.
“Hearing so many kind words and stories about my dad’s life, interactions and experiences with everyone has been incredible and comforting,” he wrote on Instagram alongside photos of hin with his father over the years.
Nick Hogan went on to call his father his “hero.”
“He was the most kind, loving and amazing father anybody could ask for,” he wrote. “I feel so blessed to have had the greatest dad in the world.”
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