Bret Hart Issues Statement On Recent Comments From Martha Hart, Martha On Forgiving Vince McMahon

WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart has issued a statement in response to new comments made by Martha Hart, his sister-in-law and widow to his late brother, Owen Hart.

We've noted how Martha has been making the media rounds to promote tonight's "Dark Side of the Ring" season two finale on Owen's tragic death at WWE Over The Edge in 1999. Martha spoke with The Wrap and said she has no relationship with Bret, but it wasn't always that way.

"Unfortunately, I have no relationship with Bret," Martha said. "Bret was supportive throughout the lawsuit, but there were a few things that were a problem with Bret. First of all, when we were going through the lawsuit, he really was hoping that I would be able to help him get his wrestling footage. Because at the time, he had no relationship with WWE and he was hoping somehow ? if we ever had a settlement ? that we could work it in."

Martha said Bret was upset that she wasn't able to get him the rights to his footage, and that led to Bret befriending WWE Chairman Vince McMahon again. She said that was the first fracture in their relationship.

"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."

Martha added that Bret became "really nasty" after she wouldn't allow Owen to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. She said that's when Bret "seemed to turn."

Bret issued the following statement to The Wrap in response:

"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."

It's no secret that Martha holds WWE and McMahon directly responsible for what happened to Owen. She has told media outlets this week that she will never allow WWE to induct Owen into the Hall of Fame. She told The Wrap that she has forgiven Vince and he is welcome to donate to The Owen Hart Foundation, but she won't allow his company to honor Owen.

"I've forgiven Vince, for everything. I don't carry any of that with me," Martha said. "But at the same time, you can forgive people, but that doesn't mean you have to befriend them. If he wanted to donate to the foundation, that would be great ? but I would never allow them to honor Owen when they were responsible for his death."

Martha launched the foundation after receiving an $18 million settlement in 2000 from her lawsuit against WWE. She is adamant about not allowing WWE to honor Owen.

"They didn't take care of Owen, and that's always going to be my issue with them," Martha said.