Hulk Hogan, a mustachioed, headscarf-wearing icon in professional wrestling who turned the sport into a massive business and cultural touchstone, died Thursday at age 71, Florida police said.

In Clearwater, Florida, authorities responded to a morning call about a cardiac arrest. Hogan was pronounced dead at a hospital, police said in a statement on Facebook.

Hogan, whose real name was Terry Bollea, was perhaps the biggest star in WWE’s long history. He was the main draw for the first WrestleMania in 1985 and was a fixture for years, facing everyone from Andre The Giant and Randy Savage to The Rock and even company chairman Vince McMahon.

He won at least six WWE championships and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005.

“One of pop culture’s most recognizable figures, Hogan helped WWE achieve global recognition in the 1980s. WWE extends its condolences to Hogan’s family, friends, and fans,” WWE said.

“Hulkamania,” as the energy he created was called, started running wild in the mid-1980s and pushed professional wrestling into the mainstream. He was a flag-waving American hero with the horseshoe mustache, red and yellow gear and massive arms he called his “24-inch pythons.”

In recent years, Hogan has waded further into politics.

At the 2024 Republican National Convention, Hogan merged classic WWE maneuvers with President Donald Trump’s rhetoric to vociferously endorse his longtime acquaintance.

“Let Trumpamania run wild! Let Trumpamania rule again! Let Trumpamania make America Great Again!” Hogan shouted into the crowd.

He ripped off a T-shirt emblazoned with a picture of himself on a motorcycle to reveal a bright red Trump-Vance campaign shirt underneath. Then-presidential candidate Trump stood to applaud the move.

In 2016, a Florida jury awarded Hogan $115 million in his sex tape lawsuit against Gawker Media and then added $25 million in punitive damages. Hogan sued after Gawker in 2012 posted a video of him having sex with his former best friend’s wife. He contended the post violated his privacy.

Hogan smiled and wore black throughout the three-week trial.

“Everywhere I show up, people treat me like I’m still the champ,” he said of the support from fans.

Hogan first became champion in what was then the World Wrestling Federation in 1984, and pro wrestling took off from there. His popularity helped lead to the creation of the annual WrestleMania event in 1985, when he teamed up with Mr. T to beat “Rowdy” Roddy Piper and “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff in the main event.

He slammed and beat Andre the Giant at WrestleMania III in 1987, and the WWF gained momentum. His feud with the late “Macho Man” Randy Savage – perhaps his greatest rival — carried pro wrestling even further.

Hogan was a central figure in what is known as the Monday Night Wars. The WWE and World Championship Wrestling were battling for ratings supremacy in 1996. Hogan tilted things in WCW’s favor with the birth of the Hollywood Hogan character and the formation of the New World Order, a villainous stable that put WCW ahead in the ratings.

He returned to the WWE in 2002 and became a champion again. His match with The Rock at WrestleMania X8, a loss during which fans cheered for his “bad guy” character, was seen as a passing of the torch.

He was perhaps as known for his larger-than-life personality as he was his in-ring exploits. He was beloved for his “promos,” hype sessions he used to draw fans into matches. He often would play off his interviewer, “Mean” Gene Okerlund, starting his interviews off with, “Well, lemme tell ya something, Mean Gene!”

He crossed over into movies and television as well. He was Thunderlips in the movie Rocky III in 1982.

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White reported from Detroit. AP writer Safiyah Riddle contributed from Montgomery, Alabama.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

© AP Photo/Steve Nesius, Pool, File

Ken Silver knows beef because he knows Philly cheesesteak. He hopes that a summer spike in how much he pays for his restaurant’s main product doesn’t cause heartburn for him or his customers.

Silver, president of Jim’s South St. in Philadelphia, said he might have to raise prices for his popular sandwiches to offset the rising cost of beef or even declare a market price, which is commonly associated with seafood.

“I really hate to do that,” said Silver, whose father started the business in 1976.

U.S. beef prices have been steadily rising over the past 20 years because the supply of cattle remains tight while beef remains popular.

Silver said the price of beef from his supplier now is about $1 more per pound than it was a year ago. And that is on top of a roughly 50% increase when he reopened in 2024 after a fire — “crazy,” as he put it.

“Our strategy right now is just absorbing the price and hoping that we see a reduction after the summer months are over, the grilling season and all the rest,” Silver said Wednesday.

He said a cheesesteak sandwich at Jim’s South St. costs $13.49, up from $11.49 in 2022, when the restaurant was forced to close for nearly two years due to fire. Cheesesteaks typically are made with thinly sliced beef, cheese and onions, though other toppings are possible, too.

For consumers, the average price of a pound of ground beef rose to $6.12 in June, up nearly 12% from a year ago, according to U.S. government data. The average price of all uncooked beef steaks rose 8% to $11.49 per pound.

“We’ve taken a hit, profitability-wise, just to maintain what our customers would expect to get when they come to us: a reasonably priced cheesesteak of the best quality they can find,” Silver said.

A customer, Bryan Williams, suggested a price hike wouldn’t discourage him from placing an order.

“That’s just how things are going lately,” he said. “There’s really nothing that they can do about it.”

___

White reported from Detroit.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

© AP Photo/Matt Rourke

Ken Silver knows beef because he knows Philly cheesesteak. He hopes that a summer spike in how much he pays for his restaurant’s main product doesn’t cause heartburn for him or his customers.

Silver, president of Jim’s South St. in Philadelphia, said he might have to raise prices for his popular sandwiches to offset the rising cost of beef or even declare a market price, which is commonly associated with seafood.

“I really hate to do that,” said Silver, whose father started the business in 1976.

U.S. beef prices have been steadily rising over the past 20 years because the supply of cattle remains tight while beef remains popular.

Silver said the price of beef from his supplier now is about $1 more per pound than it was a year ago. And that is on top of a roughly 50% increase when he reopened in 2024 after a fire — “crazy,” as he put it.

“Our strategy right now is just absorbing the price and hoping that we see a reduction after the summer months are over, the grilling season and all the rest,” Silver said Wednesday.

He said a cheesesteak sandwich at Jim’s South St. costs $13.49, up from $11.49 in 2022, when the restaurant was forced to close for nearly two years due to fire. Cheesesteaks typically are made with thinly sliced beef, cheese and onions, though other toppings are possible, too.

For consumers, the average price of a pound of ground beef rose to $6.12 in June, up nearly 12% from a year ago, according to U.S. government data. The average price of all uncooked beef steaks rose 8% to $11.49 per pound.

“We’ve taken a hit, profitability-wise, just to maintain what our customers would expect to get when they come to us: a reasonably priced cheesesteak of the best quality they can find,” Silver said.

A customer, Bryan Williams, suggested a price hike wouldn’t discourage him from placing an order.

“That’s just how things are going lately,” he said. “There’s really nothing that they can do about it.”

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

© Matt Rourke—AP

A judge on Wednesday rejected a Trump administration request to unseal transcripts from grand jury investigations of Jeffrey Epstein years ago in Florida, though a similar request for the work of a different grand jury is pending in New York.

U.S. District Judge Robin Rosenberg in West Palm Beach said the request to release grand jury documents from 2005 and 2007 did not meet any of the extraordinary exceptions under federal law that could make them public.

The Justice Department last week asked the judge to release records to quell a storm among supporters of President Donald Trump who believe there was a conspiracy to protect Epstein’s clients, conceal videos of crimes being committed and other evidence.

In 2008, Epstein cut a deal with federal prosecutors in Florida that allowed him to escape more severe federal charges and instead plead guilty to state charges of procuring a person under 18 for prostitution and solicitation of prostitution.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche had asked judges in Florida and New York to unseal transcripts from grand jury proceedings that resulted in indictments against Epstein and former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, saying “transparency to the American public is of the utmost importance to this Administration.”

Federal grand juries hear evidence in secret and then decide whether there is enough for an indictment. Experts say the transcripts likely would not reveal much because prosecutors typically are trying only to present enough material to get charges and don’t introduce the entire investigation.

Epstein, a wealthy financier, years later was arrested in 2019 on federal sex trafficking charges, while Maxwell was charged with helping him abuse teenage girls.

Epstein was found dead in his cell at a federal jail in New York City about a month after he was arrested. Investigators concluded he killed himself. Maxwell later was convicted at trial and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

The case attracted attention because of Epstein and Maxwell’s links to famous people, including royals, presidents and billionaires. It also led to some of the biggest conspiracy theories animating Trump’s base.

The furor over records has been stoked by the Justice Department. In February, far-right influencers were invited to the White House and provided with binders marked “The Epstein Files: Phase 1” and “Declassified.” The binders contained documents that had largely already been in the public domain.

The department on July 7 acknowledged that Epstein did not have a list of clients. It also said no more files related to his case would be made public.

A two-page memo that bore the logos of the FBI and Justice Department, but that was not signed by any individual, said the department determined that no “further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted.”

Meanwhile, a House Oversight subcommittee voted Wednesday to subpoena the Justice Department for files. The full committee issued a subpoena for Maxwell to testify before committee officials in August. And Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., called on Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

© John Minchillo—AP