![]() Similarly, Gawker doesn’t just look to expose malfeasance in the public interest but to humiliate, degrade and ruin its targets, newsworthy or not, and regardless of whether its subjects’ behavior causes harm. Hulk Hogan's financial backer known for billions, maverick views Thiel isn’t so much seeking to recover specific or punitive damages, even, in this case, on Hogan’s behalf - Thiel says he’s getting nothing himself - but rather to employ the costs and the burdens of limitless litigation as a way to put Gawker out of business, or to force its sale. The antagonists are matched in another way: Each is out to inflict the maximum pain on the other. Both sides are beyond the bounds of predictable behavior. Gawker’s mass audience and unrestrained passion for personal assassination and Thiel’s hyper wealth are both new cultural phenomena. In any appeal, Gawker is expected to have to post a bond in the meantime.Equally, Gawker has found its own way around many of the constraints and conventions of publishing, helping to create and being protected by a new ethos, and tsunami, of scabrous, unverified and unfiltered Internet comment. ![]() Daulerio sits down at the computer with his friends, joking, laughing, mocking, recklessly consuming this content, and with a click uploads this thing up on the Internet and turns this man’s life upside down,” Bollea’s lawyer told the jury. That videotape was made in 2006 but made public by Gawker in 2012. Bollea said on the stand that he was “completely humilated” by the tape. While clearly he was being sarcastic, it underscored the attitude of the Gawker the head of the website’s anything goes editorial policy. It probably didn’t help that, when asked in court last week about the news value of celebrity sex videos, former Gawker editor Daulerio said he thought the video was “amusing.” When Bollea’s lawyer played his video deposition in court where he asked if Daulerio could imagine any time that a celebrity sex tape would not be considered newsworthy, the former editor said, “If they were a child.” When pressed about what age, Daulerio said, “Four.” However, that is before the jury today granted damages of over $100M. When interviewed by The New York Times about the then-pending lawsuit a year ago, Denton said he wasn’t concerned that it would have much impact on his business. While there is likely to be an appeal, a judgment this high from the Florida jury could be devastating for Gawker, which was started over a decade ago by Denton. Bollea, the man, they said, was personally harmed by the publication of the video. ![]() Bollea’s attorneys argued that not only did their client not know the tape was being recorded, but when he spoke about his sex life later on a radio show, he did so in character as Hulk Hogan. While Gawker cried First Amendment protection, Bollea’s attorney cried foul and said it was a clear invasion of privacy. So far, he has won $60 million for emotional stress and $55 million in economic damages. Bollea sued Nick Denton’s Gawker Media and the former editor of, Albert J. At issue was a one minute and 41 second video which Gawker posted that showed the famed wrestler having sex with Heather Clem, the wife of his best friend. PREVIOUS, FRIDAY PM: Hulk Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, has landed a $115M judgment against online site Gawker for invasion of privacy in a case that is likely to have repercussions of how celebrity news is covered in the future. Gawker, Denton and Daulerio are expected to appeal. The total damages awarded Bollea is now $140M. Gawker’s financials also showed, among other things, that it earned $6.5M in operating income in 2014 on revenues of $44.3M. Gawker Staff Ratifies Digital Media's First WGA Contractīerry told jurors today that the $115M amount “could be debilitating for Gawker Media.” The company released financials to the court earlier that showed Gawker Media was worth $83M, and that Denton was worth anywhere between $117M-$121M because of his interest in the company, but personally is worth an estimated $3.6M.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |