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Brooke Hogan's husband, former professional hockey player Steven Olesky, said the "challenging" relationship between his wife and her late father, WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan, broke down over a "series of phone calls" in an exclusive interview with PEOPLE published on Saturday (August 2).
Olesky said "there were some things said, and a lot of mistruths," but emphasized that the rift wasn't caused by Hulk's wife, Sky Daily, as rumors suggested.
“My wife will say it — it had nothing to do with his new wife,” Olesky said via PEOPLE. “It had to do with the way he treated her.”
Hulk skipped Brooke's 2022 wedding, with Olesky claiming he told him he “doesn’t do weddings or funerals anymore" before his own wedding to daily, one year later, which Brooke had also missed, leading to their estrangement. Olesky said he “remained in contact with members of her family to try to keep that door open and understand if I should protect my wife or try to mend the relationship.”
The former hockey player added that Brooke's support of her father had "really taken a toll on her," which included Hulk using the N-word multiple times while discussing his daughter's ex-boyfriend in a leaked sex tape audio recorded in 2012 that leaked in 2015.
“It was a situation where she loved her dad very, very much,” Olesky said.
TMZ Sports reported that Brooke removed herself from her father's will in 2023 as she "didn't trust a single person around" her father and wanted to avoid a financial battle that could potentially ensue after his death. Sources claimed that Brooke wanted to protect her father from others taking advantage of him, but eventually reached out to his financial manager to have herself removed from his will after years of disagreements on the issue.
Last month, TMZ reported that Brooke showed concern for her father's health during their final conversation in 2023. Brooke was reportedly notified about her father's passing after her brother, Nick, texted her husband.
WWE confirmed Hulk Hogan's death in tribute posts shared on its social media account following TMZ Sports' initial report on July 24.
Hogan's cause of death was officially ruled to be a heart attack, according to Pinellas County Forensic Science Center documents obtained by Page Six on Thursday (July 31). The legendary wrestler reportedly had a history of atrial fibrillation (AFib), which is categorized in patients with an irregular and often rapid heart rate, as well as chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), a cancer that affects white blood cells, though the diagnosis that wasn't previously revealed to the public.
The Hulk Hogan character is one of the most well-known in the history of professional wrestling, leading WWE to become a global enterprise in the 1980s as the face of the company during its popularity boom. Bollea was a five-time WWE (then-WWF) Champion, which included a 1,474-day reign as the longest of the WrestleMania era and a six-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, where he was the leader of the New World Order as 'Hollywood' Hulk Hogan during his tenure with the now-defunct promotion.
Hogan was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame twice as both an individual and as a member of the faction.