#Hulk hogan vs gawker media court case trial#

free speech lawsuits in American media, and it’s understandable why multiple filmmakers would. And we expected to prevail in those other two lawsuits by clients of Charles Harder, the lawyer backed by Peter Thiel,” Denton wrote. Gawker case of 2016 was certainly a landmark in terms of privacy vs.

“We were confident the appeals court would reduce or eliminate the runaway Florida judgment against Gawker, the writer of the Hogan story and myself personally.

Gawker was forced to file for bankruptcy following the judgement awarded to Hogan. Thiel famously funded anti-Gawker lawsuits in an attempt to bankrupt the company that once outed the billionaire as a gay man.

#Hulk hogan vs gawker media court case trial#

“It’s a shame the Hogan trial took place without the motives of the plaintiff’s backer being known,” Denton wrote. In March, a jury awarded Hogan a total of $140 million over the publication of the Hogan sex tape. After calculating a sum of $115 million in damages in the Peter Thiel-backed suit, the jury tacked on another $25 million in punitive damages.Īlso Read: Bill O'Reilly Praises 'Heroism' of Hulk Hogan for Ending Gawker (Video) “After four years of litigation funded by a billionaire with a grudge going back even further, a settlement has been reached. To recap, Hogan sued Gawker for invasion of privacy after the site published a story in 2012 about the wrestler having sex with a friend’s wife, and included a short clip from a recording of. Gawker founder Nick Denton on Wednesday announced a settlement in the long-brewing legal battle with Hulk Hogan over his site’s publication of portions of a sex tape featuring the former wrestler.Īccording to court documents, Hogan will receive $31 million plus a share of distributions from Gawker’s recent $135 million sale to Univision.