When Hulk Hogan passed away in July of 2025 at age 71 following cardiac arrest in Clearwater, Florida, the headlines mostly focused on his legacy in wrestling and his estate. But behind the scenes, his daughter Brooke Hogan was quietly carrying a story of love, distance, and devotion.
Brooke, 37, had not been publicly seen with her father in quite some time. She didn't attend his September 2023 wedding to his third wife, Sky Daily. She wasn't present during some of his final surgeries. And she'd made the shocking decision to remove herself from his will.
But according to Brooke, none of that was rooted in resentment. "My dad's blood runs through my veins," she wrote in a raw Instagram tribute. "Our blood has never broken, not even in his final moments."
So what really happened between the pop star-turned-reality TV fixture and the man once known to millions as wrestling royalty?
A Father-Daughter Bond That Ran Deep
Brooke Hogan grew up in the chaotic spotlight of the 2000s, when VH1's "Hogan Knows Best" turned her family into reality TV stars. While the cameras caught plenty of family drama, what stood out then was how close Brooke and her father were.
She was his oldest child, the one who inherited not just his strong features but his fierce sense of loyalty. When her parents divorced and controversies swirled, Brooke stuck by her dad, even defending him publicly during tough times.
So it's all the more telling that when concerns started to grow about people influencing Hulk's financial decisions, Brooke tried to intervene, not for her gain, but to protect him.
"He Didn't Want Me There Anymore"
In 2023, Brooke reportedly voiced concerns to her father about those around him. They disagreed. She eventually reached out to his financial team herself and asked to be removed from the will, a preemptive move to avoid conflict after his death.
Still, that decision didn't signal a break in their emotional connection.
Brooke and her husband, Steven Olesky, had moved to Florida specifically to be closer to Hulk as he aged. She was by his side for nearly 25 surgeries, offering the kind of hands-on support most people would never know about. "All of a sudden, he didn't want me at surgeries," she shared on Instagram. That shift marked a turning point.
They spoke for the last time just two weeks before his 2023 wedding. After that, silence. But according to Brooke, it wasn't because of some dramatic rupture. "We never had a 'big fight,'" she wrote. "It was a series of private phone calls no one will ever hear, know, or understand."
Estranged, But Not Broken
That one phrase—"our blood has never broken"—keeps coming up in Brooke's reflections. Even as she stepped away from the spotlight and even from her father's inner circle, it's clear that their bond wasn't severed. Life, circumstances, and outside pressures strained it.
Brooke shared a video montage of memories with her dad, set to Stevie Nicks' "Crystal." Her caption reads like a love letter and a eulogy wrapped into one: "You were my everything, and I will always be your girl… Our bond is eternal. That truth brings me comfort and hope, even in your absence."
Brooke won't inherit his estate, but she was named the beneficiary in a life insurance policy, which she says she'll use for her children's college funds. Even in his absence, she's channeling his legacy into something meaningful.