Wrestling icon Hulk Hogan and his daughter, Brooke, had an estranged relationship in the years leading up to his death.
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During a lengthy social media tribute to her late father in July 2025, Brooke shed light on the rift between them.
"I felt a disconnect. What followed were respectful disagreements that took an emotional toll on me," she wrote. "During the last two years, I had to step away to protect my heart."
She added, "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."
During a recent interview with Us Weekly, Brooke revealed one situation that caused her relationship with the WWE legend to falter.
"A major turning point came after he slept with my friend Christiane [Plante]," Brooke, 38, told Us. "I forgive people very easily — sometimes probably too easily — and I forgave him. But something between us changed afterward. I don't think he ever related to me in quite the same way again."
Plante confirmed the affair with Hulk to the National Enquirer in 2008, which she said occurred when the pro wrestler and his estranged wife, Linda, "privately knew their marriage was ending."
Hulk Hogan and Daughter
Linda, Brooke's mother, filed for divorce in 2007 after 24 years of marriage. The divorce was finalized in 2009.
"Then the divorce happened. Our entire family structure changed," Brooke explained to Us. "Over time, things became increasingly complicated until eventually the relationship I had always believed could survive anything couldn't survive what was happening around us anymore. That's probably the biggest thing I wish people understood about the Hogan family: Public perception reduces families into heroes and villains. Real families aren't that simple."
Brooke explained that the family suffered through internal turmoil. Although she loves her late father, she said she didn't want that love to prevent her from acknowledging the more painful parts of their relationship.
"There was dysfunction, fear, resentment, enormous betrayal, money, fame, image management and decades of unresolved hurt all existing underneath the same roof," Brooke said. "I can love my father profoundly and still tell the truth about where he hurt me. I can acknowledge the wonderful things my family gave me while also acknowledging that eventually the dynamic became something I could no longer live inside. Both things can be true."
