Brooke Hogan has alleged “extreme abuse” in a new statement responding to her mom’s teary video blaming her father, former WWE star Hulk, for the family’s strained relationships.
Brooke, who’s been estranged from her parents for several years, shared a lengthy post criticizing her parents on Instagram. The 36-year-old’s statement comes in response to a recent social media video shared by Hulk’s first wife Linda, 65, who tearfully blamed Hulk, 71, for their daughter’s nearly eight-year estrangement.
“There was a recent video posted by my Mother that was concerning enough for people to send to me, that has made me feel the need to address the tip of a very large iceberg that is my immediate family,” Brooke wrote.
“What little I am addressing does not even scratch the surface of what l’ve dealt with my entire life. I will start by saying this video is mild compared to behavior I have witnessed for the greater portion of my life. This also comes in addition to false claims that she’s previously posted, then deleted. That being said, she has been through A LOT of trauma and pain, my heart breaks for her. You can’t control how others treat you, but you can control how you treat others and cope with things.
“I have completely separate reasons for going no contact with each of my parents,” she clarified. “This decision was made based purely on how they have each dealt with me directly my entire life.
“What I’m about to say is not pointed at either person. And is in no particular order when it comes to who did what. It is my own personal truth, and you can do your own math.”
“I have been EXTREMELY verbally and mentally abused since childhood,” she claimed. “Sadly, it would frequently turn physical. And sometimes it’s not by the person you would assume, abuse comes in all shapes and sizes. This vicious pattern has robbed me of any sense of self-esteem or confidence I’ve been trained to pretend to have.”
Detailing the alleged abuse, Brooke shared that “up until adulthood, I’ve received berating and vile text messages, verbal, public reamings with unbelievably hurtful words said to me that cannot be forgotten. I’ve been ASKED to defend poor behavior to the public and have done so out of love. Only to find I was misinformed, manipulated, and lied to.”
“Still to this day I face constant ridicule for those poor decisions of others. I’ve watched others benefit financially off my suffering and embarrassment caused by their selfish behavior. While it caused my life to crumble, I continued to stay strong and silent.
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“I was expected to — and DID forgive massive blows to my career and personal life, nasty behavior, omissions of truth, blatant lies, manipulation, and repetitive errors in hopes of renewing previous family bonds. I’ve been used as a pawn, a buffer, and been treated like I’m downright stupid too. No child or human should ever experience something like this,” Brooke added.
“I so badly wanted to see good in them, protect, help, and start anew — just to be disrespected again and again. I longed for a normal family, but it never came to fruition,” she said, further claiming that she’s repeatedly tried to help them “only to have them pull me into the darkness with them.”
“I’ve set boundaries that were not respected, and at this point, I can truly do no more,” she said. “So here I am, an adult with a loving husband and two beautiful children of my own. And what I CAN do is take control. I have been to therapy, I am doing the work. I am breaking the chain. It ends with ME.”
In 2022, Brooke married retired NHL player Steven Oleksy. The couple welcomed a set of fraternal twins, Oliver and Molly, in January.
“Each individual, on their own, has given me more than enough reasons over the years to make this extremely hard and painful decision to end contact. As much as I not only understand and have empathy for their own struggles, I absolutely LOVE them with every fiber of my being — which deep down I think they know,” she wrote.
Concluding on a positive note, she said: “Life is so precious. I want so much to be able to enjoy what’s important…my children and my life I’ve worked so hard to create and protect — and I hope everyone can give me the chance to do with without injecting poison into it.”
The Independent has contacted Linda and Hulk’s representatives for comment.
Hulk, who rose to fame during his time on WWE, was married to Linda from 1983 to 2009. They also share a 34-year-old son, Nick. As a family, the four fronted their four-season reality series Hogan Knows Best, which aired from 2005 to 2007.
Brooke went on to lead her own short-lived series, Brooke Knows Best, in 2008 and 2009, and has made appearances in a handful of movies and TV shows, including the 2016 thriller Give Me My Baby and a single episode of Netflix drama GLOW.