Brooke Hogan Shuts Down Critics Over Bikini Photo While Grieving

When Brooke Hogan posted a beach photo in a bikini on May 20, she wasn’t looking for validation—she was processing grief in the way that made sense to her. Yet the internet decided it knew better, taking issue with the juxtaposition of a two-piece swimsuit and a deeply personal caption about missing her late father, Hulk Hogan.

By Friday, May 22, the 38-year-old had enough. In a lengthy Instagram response, Brooke didn’t just defend herself; she dismantled the entire premise of the criticism.“Trust me, if I wanted to give you a thirst trap, you would have gotten one,”she wrote, cutting through the noise with refreshing directness. She pointed out the absurdity of the argument: would the same photo spark outrage if she were a surfer, a swim instructor, or a different body type? The real issue, she suggested, wasn’t the bikini—it was that people felt entitled to dictate how she should grieve.

The deeper truth Brooke articulated is one that resonates far beyond celebrity gossip. She grew up in swimsuits. The beach, the ocean, the life her father Hulk loved—that’s her home, her sanctuary, her anchor. On May 20, she needed time with her thoughts and the waves that carried memories of him. Every detail mattered: the bass in his voice in the breaking waves, the salt water like his hugs, the ocean smell like days on the boat they shared. That wasn’t performative; that was real.

Hulk died in July 2025 from a heart attack at age 71, survived by his wife Sky Daily and his children and grandchildren, including Brooke and her brother Nick Hogan. When it came time to honor him in August, Brooke made another unconventional choice—she skipped his funeral. Not out of disrespect, but because“My father hated the morbidity of funerals. He didn’t want one.”Instead, she and her husband Steven Oleksy took their twins Oliver and Molly to the beach. That’s where the real ceremony happened.

The criticism Brooke faced reveals something uncomfortable about how we police grief, especially when it comes from women in the public eye. There’s an unspoken expectation that mourning should look a certain way—somber, withdrawn, performance-ready for an audience. But grief isn’t linear, and it doesn’t come with a dress code. Brooke’s final message to the critics was clear:“You come at me with your ignorant opinions and nasty comments hiding behind your screens? Go back under your bridge, trolls.”She wasn’t asking for permission to grieve on her own terms. She was simply reminding everyone that her father was human, she’s human, and her experience with him belongs to her alone.