With both of her parents going off the deep end since their messy divorce, and her brother in jail for his part in permanently disabling his best friend, 20-year-old Brooke Hogan seems like the only halfway sane person in that family. Which is kind of scary, if you think about it. Brooke confessed that the idea of her mom dating a guy who is younger than her has her “freaked out.” In fact, Linda Hogan met her new boy toy because he is a school mate of Brooke and Nick. Ewwww.

Not everyone approves of Hollywood cougars—least of all their cubs.

Brooke Hogan’s reaction to her 48-year-old mom, Linda, dating someone 29 years her junior? “I’m totally freaked out,” she told E! satellite radio personality Michael Yo during a conversation the two had off air.

“I personally don’t like it at all or condone it, but she’s my mom, so I have to show her support.”

The Hulkster’s daughter also confirmed that mom’s man-child, Charley Hill, 19, was a classmate of hers and her jailed brother, Nick.

“I went to school with him. He was a grade under me…Me and Nick know him well. Me and Nick are two years apart, and he was right between us (in school).”

[From E! Online]

I’m with Brooke on this one. When I was about 22, my mom, who was 43 at the time, started dating a 20 year old guy, and let me tell you, it was weird. She bossed him around like she was his mother and he seemed to like it. It gave me the willies just to hang out with them. Thankfully, my mom got it out of her system. If the guy had resembled my brother- the way this kid resembles Nick Hogan- it would have been even weirder. Add to that the fact that her dad is dating a younger woman who looks a lot like Brooke herself, and this family is just plain creepy.

Brooke Hogan and “Charlie” are shown on 5/31/08 on the dance floor at the Palms Place opening, thanks to Splash.

The Hogan family really didn’t make the most of their time on reality televsision. Instead of focusing on Brooke’s mind-numbingly boring music career, they instead should have featured the weird love triangle between Brooke, her father and her best friend. Instead of having some petty domestic dispute between Linda and Hulk, they should have had shown his face when he learnt about their divorce from a newspaper calling for comment.

Consistent with her classy behavior in the past, Linda Hogan has been seen out partying with a man young enough to be her incarcerated son.

In an effort to make the Hogan family look even worse, Linda Hogan took her 19-year-old Nick-a-like boytoy to the opening of Palms Place last night!

Our spy says Linda’s prey, Charlie, said the two are just friends — because friends are typically all over each other at the Palms.

TMZ

Does anyone ever fall for the ‘just friends’ line? While people of different genders and ages can be friends, I find it hard to believe that Linda could have made fast friends with a 19-year-old bleached blonde perma-tanned young lad she just met in a club. And then put her hands ‘all over’ him. Unless they’re comparing tanning salons and discussing the best way to cover up dark roots.

The thing that horrifies me the most about the whole thing is that the young man looks quite a bit like Linda’s son Nick, rather like Hulk Hogan’s girlfriend looked like his daughter. I know it’s probably just coincidence, but it creeps me out all the same.

Picture Note by Celebitchy: Linda Hogan and her boytoy, identified as “Charlie,” are shown on 5/31/08 on the dancefloor at the Palms Place opening. That guy is a lot older than 19. He looks like he’s pushing 30 to me at least. Thanks to Splash News for these photos.

When I was 14 I invented a secret boyfriend. We had an awesome time together and did wildly inappropriate things. I’m pretty sure everyone knew I was lying. But I’ll defend that decision to this day. It saved my 14-year-old dignity (or so I thought), and I didn’t actually do any of those wild things. I’m pretty sure that’s exactly what’s going on with Brooke Hogan, who apparently has had a secret boyfriend for several years - and they’re now engaged. Brooke, it’s only cute to make up stuff when you’re young and dumb. Just being dumb isn’t’ enough.

The gentleman in question – who appears to have a thing for tranny-looking girls – got down on one knee and asked Brooke Hogan to spend the rest of her life with him. Apparently with all the romance going on in the Hogans’ lives these days, 21-year-old Jonathan Prater thought it was the perfect time to plan a once-in-a-lifetime (theoretically) occasion.

Brooke Hogan is secretly engaged to a choreographer - but they’re trying to keep their happy news under wraps until the dark cloud over the Hogan family dissipates. The Enquirer has learned exclusively that Jonathan Prater, 21, recently dropped to one knee and asked 20-year-old Brooke to marry him - and the “Brooke Hogan Knows Best” stunner said “Yes!”

The couple has been dating off and on for the past few years, but this time the romance has gotten hotter than ever. Even so, Brooke has decided to keep their engagement quiet until brother Nick’s recent felony reckless driving conviction and Hogan divorce controversies are put to rest, sources say.

[an "insider" tells the Enquirer] “With everything going on right now the Hogans feel like it’s not an appropriate time to be celebrating.” The family’s VH1 reality show, “Hogan Knows Bes,” now has been spun off into “Brooke Hogan Knows Best,” and fans can expect to see Brooke sporting a diamond engagement ring at some point.

[From the National Enquirer, June 2, 2008 print ed.]

I have to say, I think this Jonathan Prater character could have timed the engagement a little better. Brooke’s parents are divorcing, her dad cheated on her mom with her good friend, her little brother’s in jail, and she’s reportedly suffering a breakdown. Is now the right time? Really? My only guess as to what the guy was thinking was something along the lines of, “She’s really bummed out. Maybe planning a wedding will distract her.” Or something like that.

The Enquirer also mentions that Hulk threw Nick a big “Going off to jail” party a few days before his sentencing. Look what you’re marrying into Jonathan Prater! I don’t know who the hell you are, but I know you can do better than this.

Stay classy Hogans.

Here’s Brooke at the Broker Boxing Federation event to help raise money for the Alonzo Mourning Charities foundation on April 10th. Images thanks to WENN.

Nick Hogan really doesn’t like jail. I mean really. It’s no fun at all – in fact it’s downright boring. Though it appears he hasn’t been made anyone’s bitch (yet), Nick still thinks the place sucks and wishes he’d gone to trial instead of copping a plea. The inmates are allowed to talk on the phone as long as they want at Pinellas County Jail – during their free time of course. Nick spends an average of two hours a day on the phone, generally complaining and whimpering to his mom.

The contents of some of Nick’s conversations have been released, and now we can hear a few of the specifics about just how tough jail really is.

The phone calls began just hours after Nick Bollea was hauled away from the courtroom.

Nick Bollea: “Had I known this, I would have rather gone to trial or I would rather, you know, appeal the case or something. I can’t deal with this for eight months. It’s (Bollea’s cell) like the size of my bathroom.”
Linda Bollea: “Oh!”
Nick: “No windows or nothing. Just one little top bed thing.”
Linda: “Oh my God!”

[From ABC Action News]

I know! My God indeed! Now I’m guessing Nick Hogan’s bathroom is bigger than most of our bedrooms. So I am not necessarily impressed by how small his cell is. And it’s not like he’s got a lot of stuff to keep in there. What does it matter how small it is? But I just love the shock and “Oh my God!” I’m guessing that was followed with, “What thread count are the sheets? 200 you say? My God!”

Bollea is being kept in a single cell at the Pinellas County Jail because he is one of only two minors serving time in the adult facility. On the phone, he cries often and is comforted by his mother Linda.

Nick: “All you do is sit there and think, and there’s nothing to think about.”
Linda: “We’ll get through it.”
Nick: “Yeah.”
Linda: “Prove to everyone you’ve learned your lesson and be more careful.”

Bollea asks for anything to pass the time, including books and magazines. He even talks about breaking the world record for sleeping and working out in his cell. On Wednesday his famous father Terry (a.k.a. Hulk Hogan) congratulated him on his time served so far.

[From ABC Action News]

Considering how Nick’s family has often reacted to the car crash (which left passenger John Graziano in a vegetative state, probably for life), it’s actually surprising to hear Linda Hogan acknowledge that Nick did do something wrong, and has a lesson to learn. Linda has encouraged Nick’s racing hobby for years, including drag racing – which was what he was doing when he crashed his car.

However she did support Graziano family for a while, renting a condo for his mother to stay in while she kept watch over her son . So it seems like she has some teeny, tiny bit of common sense lacking in father Hulk Hogan, who said the following:

~”I’m very proud of you brother. Very, very proud of you. You’ve been thrown in a tough spot and you’ve handled it better than I could have probably handled it. Any man I know. You’ve really been somebody to look up to.”

[From ABC Action News]

Yes, ruining a young man’s life, never taking responsibility or saying sorry directly to his family until you’re forced to in a court of law – you are someone to look up to, Nick Hogan. You’ve ruined many lives. Congrats. I hope the next seven months are filled with deep thoughts… though you’ve already admitted you don’t have many of those.

Nick Hogan is pictured at his sentencing hearing on May 13th. Images thanks to Splash.

As much as I enjoy rampantly spreading Hogan-family hate, for once I actually feel empathy for them. Or at least one of them. Brooke Hogan is supposedly suffering from an emotional breakdown as the result of younger brother Nick’s incarceration and father Hulk Hogan’s affair with one of Brooke’s former friends.

Hulk Hogan’s 17-year-old son Nick Hogan was recently sentenced to eight months in prison after pleading no contest to charges of reckless driving in an accident that left his close friend critically injured. But friends of the “Hogan Knows Best” family are more concerned about his 20-year-old sister, Brooke Hogan, according to our source.

“She’s suffering the worst of all; she just can’t keep it together and has been hit the hardest,” said the source, adding that Brooke is “extremely sensitive” and her emotions are spiraling out of control. Brooke’s relationship with her father was severely strained after his reported infidelity with her former friend made news in February.

While our source said that Nick’s arrest has “brought them a little closer to reconciliation,” it’s not the case for Hulk and his wife, Linda. The estranged couple appeared together at Nick’s hearing on May 9, where Linda even flashed her wedding ring, apparently for the first time since news of the reported affair broke.

“Basically they were trying to put their best foot forward and fake a public image of unity and support for their son,” our insider said. “He [Hulk] is a very astute businessman and very good at playing the media — he even admitted in court that their reality show was scripted and not so real after all.”

[From Fox News’ Pop Tarts]

I always found Brooke to be pretty annoying, and lots of blogs have a love affair with mocking her. But of everyone in her family, she’s the one who really hasn’t done anything. Her younger brother committed a crime that left another man in a coma and in a quasi-vegetative state likely for the rest of his life. Her father cheated on her mother with Brooke’s friend. Linda Hogan has been videotaped encouraging Nick to drag race… and we all know what that led to.

Brooke certainly hasn’t done anything bad. She’s an easy target, but it seems like her family members are irresponsible and she’s left emotionally exhausted and overwhelmed from it. Hopefully her parents are still able to pay enough attention to her, despite their divorce, to get her some help.

Here’s Brooke and Hulk Hogan at the courthouse on the day of Nick’s sentencing, May 13th. Images thanks to Splash.

The family of permanently disabled John Graziano, the now comatose passenger in Nick Bollea’s car accident last year, has finally filed suit against Nick and his parents. The civil suit names Nick, Linda and Terry Bollea (aka Hulk Hogan) as co-defendants, as well as the man who was street racing against Nick in the minutes leading up to the wreck that left Graziano, 22, in a permanent vegetative state.

Clearwater, Florida - The attorney for John Graziano’s family announced details of a 6-count complaint civil lawsuit filed in Pinellas County on Monday.

The lawsuit cites three counts of negligence against Terry Bollea (Hulk Hogan and Nick’s father), one against Linda Bollea (Nick’s mother), one against Nick Bollea, and a final count against Daniel Jacobs, the driver of the Dodge Viper that Nick was racing.

The Graziano family is claiming in the lawsuit that Terry and Linda Bollea should have known that their son was a reckless driver, and were also aware that their son was drinking on the day of the crash.

Hogan’s son, Nick Bollea, was allegedly speeding when Clearwater police say he lost control of his car and crashed last summer. Graziano was a passenger in the car and suffered serious head wounds. Graziano’s family says he will require medical care for the rest of his life.

Bollea faces a felony charge of reckless driving with serious bodily injury.

[From Tampa Bay News 10]

If you recall, Nick and his parents went on the offensive in the weeks after the horrific crash, deflecting blame instead of owning up to their roles in this young man’s injury, stating that if John had been wearing a seat belt he would have been fine, even though the photos of the car after the crash suggest otherwise. It looks like John’s family will finally get their day in court after all. This will be one in a long line of court appearances for Nick, who was arrested in the days after the crash on three charges, including third degree felony reckless driving.

Hulk Hogan sure is coming across as one greedy guy in his divorce proceedings from his wife of 24 years, Linda Bollea (the Hogan family’s real last name is Bollea). It’s been rumored since last spring that the couple were having marital problems, but nothing came of the rumors until August when their 17-year-old son Nick wrecked his car while drag racing, critically injuring his passenger, 22 year old John Graziano. Linda Bollea filed for divorce a few months later. Since then, she and Hulk have been at each other’s throats. The whole family is incredibly offensive – often publicly blaming Graziano for his own injuries since he wasn’t wearing a seatbelt – instead of their own son for drag racing and slamming into a tree .

Yet it appears that Hulk is the biggest douche bag of the bunch. He told Linda that he’s not giving her alimony or child support, and has supposedly hidden the assets from the sale of their $18 million Florida home. He’s completely cut Linda off financially. Since they’re all a bunch of jerks, I normally wouldn’t care. But Linda Bollea did do one decent thing. She was paying for a condo in Clearwater, Florida, for John Graziano’s mother to stay in (Graziano is expected to be bedridden and comatose for the rest of his life) while she takes care of her son. Because Hulk cut Linda off, she can no longer pay for the condo.

Since the accident, Linda Bollea had paid for a condominium for John Graziano’s mother Debra in Clearwater [Florida] but, according to a source close to the Graziano family, the stipend came to an end because of financial wrangling between Hulk and Linda.

“Debra is in the middle of her own divorce from her husband, Ed, and has no money to handle the upkeep on the condo and living expenses,” the source told the Enquirer.

“Hulk cut off Linda, and that cut off the payments to Debra Graziano. While the lease on the condo goes through September, she could end up being homeless while their lawsuit proceeds. Linda has told Debra that she can no longer help her out.”

[From the National Enquirer, print edition, February 18, 2008]

The Grazianos are in the process of suing the Bolleas for an expected $20 - $30 million according to the Enquirer. They noted that John’s immediate care right after the crash cost $5 million. Given that amount, it doesn’t seem like the amount requested is especially punitive – it will obviously cost a lot to care for John for the rest of his life. The Enquirer closes the story by noting that the Grazianos may find themselves in a state of limbo until the Hogans get their divorce worked out. I can’t imagine how long a bitter, litigious divorce could take, but I hope somehow the Grazianos lawyer is able to push forward and get the money the family needs to take care of their son, which is far more important than anything going on with the Hogans.

Header of the Hogan family at the VH1 “Big in ‘06” Awards in December 2006. Here’s Nick Hogan’s car after the crash. Images thanks to PR Photos.

The Hogans are not my favorite people, and I suspect I am not alone in that opinion. While we might have forgiven them for their awful reality series, we really can’t tolerate their attitude following son Nick’s car accident. First they said the injuries that John Graziano sustained were his own fault for not wearing a seatbelt, even though it was their son who was speeding in the sportscar they bought him. On wet roads, which they blame for the accident. Not the speeding. They bought him that sportscar to stop him driving daddy’s car after he crashed it. Nick is only seventeen and has a list of traffic offenses to his name.

Of course, when your mum is a champion of street racing, you never learn that speeding is bad. It is kids, really bad and you have to be as stupid and narcissistic as Nick not to know it can hurt people.

Linda Bollea (Mrs Hulk Hogan) filed for divorce just after the prospect of being sued by the family of Nick’s victim reared it’s head, and now it seems that assets are missing.

In her seven-page motion - called the wife’s emergency motion for temporary injunction with notice - Bollea says “a marital residence in Florida” was sold for about $10 million in August, the same month their son, Nick Bollea, was involved in a wreck that left a friend critically injured - and exposed his wealthy parents to the possibility of a lawsuit.

According to real estate records, a home in Miami the Bolleas owned was sold in August; however, the price listed in public documents was $17 million.

The following month, Linda Bollea said, her husband introduced her to Tampa lawyer Les Barnett, with the idea that Barnett would represent them jointly regarding estate planning. She said, however, that Barnett and Hogan worked together to draft a post-nuptial agreement Hogan wanted her to sign.

She said that as a result of these conversations, she unwittingly gave Hogan and Barnett “confidential information” that now can be used to her detriment in the couple’s divorce proceedings, the filing says. Bollea does not say what that confidential information is.

As a result of these “legal shenanigans,” Bollea filed for divorce, the motion says. She says Barnett then referred Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, to Ann Kerr, who is now one of his divorce attorneys.

Because of what she described as her husband’s “suspicious” behavior late last year, she said she removed $1.5 million from their accounts, the filing says. But, she says, she has not spent any of that money.

Tampa Bay Online

Of course, why would you hide assets when it seems that there will be no cause for a lawsuit, as victim John Graziano is doing well, according to Hulk Hogan. He must be a doctor as well as a wrestler.

Hulk said of receiving the dreaded phone call informing him of the smash: “That is your worst nightmare as a parent, to hear there’s been a car wreck.”

“Thank God, everything’s getting better - Nick’s doing OK, his buddy John Graziano is getting better everyday. Thank God.”

Entertainmentwise

‘Better is of course a relative term. John can’t breathe for himself, will spend the rest of his life in a nursing home, and can move his eyes but nothing else.

If I was the Hogans, particularly given the financial position they are in, I wouldn’t wait for a lawsuit, I’d just help out the family of John Graziano. I’s give them as much money as they needed to take care of their son, and I’d probably take it out of Nick’s trust fund.

Picture note by Celebitchy: The Hogans are shown at the premiere of the aptly-named Get Rich or Die Tryin on 11/3/05, thanks to PRPhotos.

Hulk Hogan is such a great father. Even though his fugly wife left him and his fugly daughter is a laughingstock who performs at malls shows, the only thing that matters to Hulk is his fugly, moronic 17-year-old son Nick. You know, the one that left his friend in a permanent vegetative state after slamming into a tree while drag racing. And then the whole family blamed the poor friend, John Graziano, for his injuries since he wasn’t wearing a seatbelt. You can see why calling them fugly is the nicest thing I can say. I can’t even begin to dissect the makeup of their characters – that assumes they have character.

Hulk’s wife Linda has filed for divorce, prompting many to wonder if the Hogans are only divorcing to protect their assets from the massive civil litigation that’s coming from John Graziano’s family. Who knows what their reasons are – and I don’t like to give any of them an inch of credit for anything – but I first read about divorce rumors last winter, at least six months before Nick’s August car crash. Anyway, the Hulk is stepping up and just being the greatest father ever, and showing us that he really has his priorities in line.

“I had some crazy days, and some things that caught me off guard,” the former wrestler and star of VH-1’s Hogan Knows Best, 54, admitted at an American Gladiators press gathering. “[I'm] riding the highs, surviving the lows, and leaning into the wind. It’s all an attitude thing to me. Being positive and knowing that things are going to get better.” After son Nick, 17, was involved in a car accident last summer in which the passenger still remains in critical condition, “My main concern in life is my son, and his situation with the boy in the car,” says Hogan. “Everything seems to be getting better in that situation.”

Despite the difficult time he’s going through, “There is no other choice but to be okay,” says Hogan. “Just crawl up in a hole or jump off a bridge – that’s not an option for me. So I’m doing much better.”

[From People]

Thank freaking goodness you let us all know how well you’re doing, Hulk. We were all really worried. I’m sure the Grazianos would love to be doing that well too. Of course while your son is realistically facing a few months in jail at most, their son is facing a lifetime in a bed, unable to blink or breathe or communicate. But I’m really glad to hear that you’re not going to jump off a bridge.

Lest you think Hulk Hogan shouldn’t be held financially responsible for his minor son’s car accident, here’s a brief note from an article written about the 110 page deposition father Hogan gave recently in Nick’s case. Nick is charged with reckless driving with serious bodily injury.

Hogan also told Assistant State Attorney Scott Rosenwasser that he was with his son when Bollea [the Hogan family’s legal last name] was stopped twice for speeding along Alligator Alley in a black Mercedes-Benz. The Florida Highway Patrol said nothing about Hogan being a passenger when it confirmed the stops to The Tampa Tribune in September.

In the deposition, Hogan is nonchalant about the back-to-back stops on Sept. 17, 2006 - one putting the car at a speed of 100 mph and the second at 107 mph. A trooper let Bollea go after the first stop, but another trooper, in communication with the first, gave him a ticket after the second stop.

“We were pretty much going with the flow of traffic,” Hogan said, describing the drive on Interstate 75 east of Naples. “You know, getting passed occasionally by a truck going 90 or 100, or a car.”

[From the Tampa Bay Tribune]

I almost think I can’t write about this case anymore. I get so angry I can almost see my heart jumping out of my chest. So I’ll leave the rest of the tirade alone, and just say I hope the Hogans lose every penny they ever made, and hope John Graziano has a miraculous recovery. And if not, that he rests comfortably on a hospital bed made of pure gold the color of the Hogan family’s hair.

The current drama with the Hogan family is proof that Karma really is a bitch. And like any other form of justice, it’s best when it’s sure and swift. Though Linda Hogan, 48, just filed for divorce last week, it turns out the couple has been separated for several months. Given that fact, it’s weird that Hulk Hogan publicly professed surprise at the divorce papers.

Either way, the Hulk is pissed. He’s going to fight Linda on alimony and child support. Their loser son Nick is still 17, so technically Linda could get some child support if Nick lived with her. Hulk says Linda is able to support herself, and notes that they have two houses and their liabilities should be divided equally between the pair. I wonder if that includes the legal liability the family will be facing when John Graziano’s parents sue them for the car crash Nick caused that turned Graziano into a vegetable?

In the court filing, Terry Bollea, 54, contested everything from his wife’s alimony and custody claims to the couple’s marriage date. Linda Bollea’s petition lists it as Dec. 12, 1983, while Terry Bollea says it was Dec. 18. Terry Bollea had it right: Public records show they were married Dec. 18, 1983. According to court documents, Terry and Linda Bollea separated about a month after their son Nick’s Aug. 26 car wreck, which critically injured his friend and passenger, John Graziano.

Linda Bollea, 48, is seeking an unspecified amount of alimony and child support. She also wants custody of their son, subject to “liberal visitation” with his father. But in his counter-claim, Terry Bollea said his wife is capable of supporting herself and helping support their son, 17, who will be a minor until July. The petition also says Nick Bollea is old enough to decide with whom he will live and that “it would be in the best interest for the parties to have shared parental responsibility.”

[From the St. Petersburg Times]

I love that quote about “shared parental responsibility.” That implies that they have some parental responsibility, which they clearly don’t. Unless they’re planning on starting it now, I doubt that makes a bit of difference. I hope they both lose their shirts when the Grazianos sue them, and then they won’t have to argue about alimony and division of assets – just division of debt.