Bret Hart Issues Statement Claiming Martha Hart Has Been "Mudslinging"

Martha Hart, widow of WWE legend Owen Hart, has been conducting a number of interviews in the past few weeks leading up to the season finale of Dark Side of the Ring, which will focus on Hart's tragic death back in 1999. During an interview with The Wrap Hart described how her relationship with her brother-in-law Bret Hart deteriorated over time, claiming that he supported her during her initial lawsuit against WWE but allegedly turned on her once he realized she wouldn't be able to get him the rights to his wrestling footage as part of a settlement.

"When that didn't happen, he was very upset that he didn't get his footage. It prompted him to befriend Vince [McMahon, the chairman of WWE] again so he could have access to his footage. That was the first fracture in our relationship," Hart said.

Bret then released a statement to The Wrap.

"While I am not interested in engaging in any more media mudslinging between Martha and myself especially in light of a global pandemic, I will say that our fallout is multifaceted. To say that it only involved being able to access and use my WWE footage and photos for future projects would merely be an oversimplification and inaccurate. I will not comment any further on the matter."

In the past Bret has criticized Martha for not allowing Owen to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame alongside other Hart Family members Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart, Stu Hart, The British Bulldog (later this year) and himself. In an interview with ComicBook Hart said she had forgiven WWE for what had happened, but called the WWE Hall of Fame "garbage."

"At the end of it all, I've forgiven all of them, really," Hart said. "The Hart family, Vince McMahon, I don't hold any grudges. I hope life has been kind to all of them. My life hasn't been easy, and I certainly wouldn't wish harm on anyone. I don't have a relationship with [the rest of the Hart] family.

"There's always been this talk that, 'Oh, we want to put Owen in the Hall of Fame.' Their Hall of Fame? They don't even have a Hallway of Fame," she later added. "It doesn't exist. There's nothing. It's a fake entity. There's nothing real or tangible. It's just an event they have to make money. They put it on TV and have a celebration, and it's just so ridiculous. I would never even entertain it. It's garbage."