Hulk Hogan. Credit :
Lou Rocco/Disney General Entertainment Content
Throughout his decades in the public eye, Hulk Hogan weathered controversies inside and out of the wrestling ring.
The legendary WWE icon, who died at 71 in Clearwater, Fla. on Thursday, July 24, was a 12-time champion, two-time inductee into the WWE Hall of Fame, and a film and reality TV star.
But his personal life — including a leaked sex tape and his subsequent $100 million lawsuit against the outlet that released it; a racist rant that led to a temporary removal from the WWE Hall of Fame; and his family drama, stemming from his 2009 divorce from Linda Hogan — also made headlines.
Gawker obtained a copy of a 2007 secretly recorded sex tape, which featured the professional wrestling icon and his friend’s wife. After the now-defunct website posted nine seconds of the footage in 2012, Hogan filed a $100 million civil lawsuit against the outlet.
In 2016, a Florida jury ruled Gawker Media had violated Hogan’s right to privacy when they posted the tape and awarded him $140 million.
“I was relieved that people actually finally believe me,” Hogan told PEOPLE at the time about the verdict. “So many people thought I was making a sex tape to sell as entertainment.”
Hulk Hogan. John Pendygraft-Pool/Getty
According to Hogan, the video of him having sex with his best friend’s then-wife was secretly recorded.
Hogan testified at trial that the video’s release left him mortified. The wrestler, born Terry Bollea, said from the witness stand that he didn’t know the sexual liaison was being taped.
Gawker Media later reached a $31 million settlement with the wrestler, who waged the years-long battle with the partial support of tech billionaire Peter Thiel.
In 2015, Hogan spoke out about a leaked audio transcript that featured him making racist slurs about his daughter Brooke’s love life.
“Eight years ago I used offensive language during a conversation. It was unacceptable for me to have used that offensive language; there is no excuse for it; and I apologize for having done it,” Hogan said at the time in a statement exclusively to PEOPLE.
The transcript featuring that conversation was published online by the National Enquirer.
Hulk Hogan and daughter Brooke Hogan. George Pimentel/WireImage
“This is not who I am. I believe very strongly that every person in the world is important and should not be treated differently based on race, gender, orientation, religious beliefs or otherwise,” Hogan told PEOPLE at the time. “I am disappointed with myself that I used language that is offensive and inconsistent with my own beliefs.”
In a separate interview with PEOPLE, he admitted to using the “n-word” and said it was “one huge mistake.”
Hogan was then wiped from the World Wrestling Entertainment’s Hall of Fame, but in 2018, the wrestler was reinstated.
Hogan, his then-wife Linda and their children Brooke and Nick rose to another level of fame together on their VH1 reality show, Hogan Knows Best, a series that aired for four seasons from 2005-2007.
One month after the show’s finale, Linda filed for divorce after 24 years of marriage, citing Hulk’s “infidelities,” including his affair with their teenage daughter’s close friend.
The tension in the family was brought back into the spotlight decades later, after Linda shared an emotional video to her Instagram Stories earlier this year.
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“It’s been 15, however long years since I left Hulk Hogan, and my family is the worst mess,” a tearful Linda said on March 26.
Nick, Brooke, Linda and Hulk Hogan. Carley Margolis/FilmMagic
Linda went on to share that she was estranged from Brooke, and their rift happened after Brooke got into a fight with her father around eight years ago. “I don’t know how that reflected onto me but she cut me out too,” she said.
The former TV personality, 65, also alleged that the retired WWE star was a “sex addict” and “liar.” Days later, in an interview with TMZ, Linda did a turnabout, and called Hulk “a good father,” but “a s—– husband.”
The couple was married from 1983 to July 2009, when their divorce was finalized. After Hulk and Linda divorced, he married his second wife, Jennifer McDaniel, in 2010. They later divorced in 2021. He then tied the knot with wife Sky Daily in September 2023.
