Brooke Hogan: Fear of Scientology contributed to removal from father’s will
On Tuesday morning, Brooke Hogan phoned up the Bubba the Love Sponge Show to discuss the passing of her father.
The hour-long conversation included Brooke explaining why she made the decision to be removed from Hulk Hogan’s will. Brooke and her father had not spoken in two years and were estranged at the time of his death. TMZ reported that, in 2023, Brooke asked to be removed from Hogan’s will because she didn’t want to get caught up in the financial battle that would ensue after he passed.
Brooke told Bubba the Love Sponge that she has no problems with Hogan’s third wife Sky Daily, but Daily being a former Scientologist contributed to Brooke not wanting to be involved in the battle over her father’s estate. Fighting a powerful group like Scientology is not something Brooke wanted, especially because she has a great husband and children and did not want to put them at risk.
In addition to that, Brooke did not want to fight her estranged mother Linda over money.
“Money didn’t matter,” Brooke said. “I was like, ‘Take me off everything.’ And I was sobbing, I was sobbing when I wrote the text to Terry McCoy — the guy that manages his money — I was sobbing and I just said, ‘Take me off everything, I just — I don’t want to be a part of it.’ Because I knew, in my mind, this is how the math was going to work out. If Sky is a Scientologist, which apparently she’s still in good standing but she says she left. It’s not for me to judge. She was always nice to me. I have no problem with Sky. But if she was a Scientologist, I know that that’s a very powerful backing.
“And then I thought, oh my God, if I get left any money or [her brother] Nick gets left any money, no offense, but my mom has been known to kind of find herself in the mix with things like that. And I’m like, I don’t want to fight Linda. I don’t want to fight Scientology. I don’t want somebody that I love to get knocked off. I don’t know how deep this stuff goes. It scared me. And I just said, ‘I want out.'”
While she did not have personal problems with Daily, Brooke urged her father only to date her and not get married due to the Scientology connection.
Brooke won’t benefit from Hogan’s will, but she will receive some money from a small life insurance trust that she plans to put toward her kids’ college funds. Though she hopes her father’s legacy is properly maintained, she expressed distrust toward some of the (unnamed) business partners Hogan had been working with.
“And I hope that my dad — and it was never about money — I had hoped that my dad at least trusted me with his IP, like his intellectual property and his trademarks and stuff,” she said. “Because like I said, I would have done the right thing and upheld his — I would have made him an Elvis legacy, or a Marilyn Monroe legacy, or a Selena legacy. And I hope that whoever has his marks does that. I just know that the people around him are pretty shady and not in his best interest.”
Brooke is married to former NHL player Steven Oleksy, with the couple welcoming twin children into the world this January. Brooke confirmed that, when she got married in 2022, her father refused to walk her down the aisle because he doesn’t do weddings or funerals and it’s hard to get him to leave the beach.
Despite their estrangement, Brooke said she’s trying to remember the good times with her father while processing all they went through. Hogan passed away due to a heart attack at 71 years old on July 24, with his death coming after complications from neck surgery.
Brooke’s full Bubba the Love Sponge appearance can be heard below:
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.