Brooke Hogan is expressing gratitude for having one final chance to tell her father, Hulk Hogan, that she loved him, even though the two were estranged at the time of his passing. The news, first reported by TMZ, sheds light on the fractured relationship between the wrestling icon and his daughter in his final years.
According to TMZ’s sources close to the family, Brooke learned of her father’s death on Thursday morning when her brother, Nick, texted her husband with the news. The report states that the father-daughter relationship had been broken for some time due to a “culmination of issues over the years” and Brooke’s feelings about how her father had treated her.
One Final Conversation
The last time the two spoke was reportedly in a phone call two weeks before Hulk Hogan married Sky Daily in September 2023. During that final conversation, sources say Brooke expressed her deep love and concern for her father’s declining health. “We’re told she urged her dad to slow down and enjoy life, but Hulk didn’t want to hear it … and they hadn’t spoken since,” the report states.
During that same call, Hulk Hogan reportedly apologized to his daughter, though he was not specific about what he was sorry for. Despite the difficult nature of their relationship, sources say Brooke was always coming from a place of love and was very protective of her father, even when her concern was not well-received.
Attempts to Reconcile
The estrangement was significant enough that Hogan had not met Brooke’s children. According to the report, Brooke’s husband made multiple attempts to mend the relationship, including reaching out to Hulk after Brooke “nearly died during childbirth.” However, “Hulk responded coldly and never made an effort to meet Brooke’s kids,” the sources told TMZ, adding that he “ultimately only wanted a relationship with her under his terms.”
A Sense of Peace
Despite the years of difficulty and lack of communication, sources say Brooke feels at peace following her father’s death. She is reportedly “lucky and grateful she got to say ‘I love you’ during their last conversation, and she feels at peace knowing she did everything she could to protect and support him.”
Hulk Hogan passed away on Thursday morning at the age of 71. Medics were dispatched to his home in Clearwater, Florida, for a cardiac arrest. He remains one of the most iconic and influential figures in the history of professional wrestling and pop culture.
