Hulk Hogan Awarded $115 Million After Case Against Gawker Regarding Sex Tape

[Shiro]

A Florida jury has awarded Hulk Hogan $115m (£79m) after the gossip news website Gawker published a sex tape of the retired professional wrestler.

Mr Hogan's legal team argued the New York-based website violated his privacy and the video was not newsworthy.
The case, which pitted freedom of the press against a celebrity's right to privacy, has been closely watched.
The video was posted in 2012 after Mr Hogan was secretly recorded having sex with his friend's wife.
Lawyers for Gawker argued that although jurors might find the website's actions distasteful, the concept of freedom of the press was more important to uphold.
Mr Hogan's lawyers said Gawker did not contact him or the woman in the video before the video was published.
"This is not only his victory today, but also anyone else who's been victimised by tabloid journalism," Hogan lawyer David Houston said outside the courtroom.
Gawker, known for its acerbic tone and aggressive coverage of celebrities, maintained that Mr Hogan's private life was newsworthy because he made it part of his public persona.
"He has consistently chosen to put his private life out there, for public consumption," Gawker's lawyer Michael Sullivan said during the trial.
However, Hogan lawyer Kenneth Turkel said during the trial that Gawker typified the often anything-goes world of internet publishing.

The verdict could lead to more caution among Internet news websites, which frequently have less editorial oversight than traditional media outlets.
Gawker's founder Nick Denton and journalist AJ Daulerio were held liable in the lawsuit.
Even before the verdict was announced, Gawker said in a statement that an appeal was likely. Large jury awards are often reduced during the appeals process.
Mr Hogan, whose given name is Terry Bollea, said the release of the sex tape hurt his career.
He was one of the most popular professional wrestlers of the 1980s and 1990s and later starred in his own reality television show with his family.
In recent years, Mr Hogan's personal problems have conflicted with his one-time child-friendly persona.
His longtime employer World Wrestling Entertainment cut ties with Mr Hogan in July after he was recorded using racial slurs.

Here's the Source
Good. Hopefully this means that the piece of shit "news journalism" site called Gawker will die soon.
I should also mention that Gawker would publish sex tapes of 5-year-old celebrities.

 

[magnify]

Whatcha gonna do Gawker, when Hulkamania runs wild on you.

Hope they go out of business and stay down for the 3 count after that leg drop from Hogan, brother.

 

[Sacredavenger22]

Gawker is literal garbage and should shut down. 

 

[Celach]

I wonder how they come up with the dollar amount for these damages. He needed it though after WWE dropped him.

Also:

Whatcha gonna do Gawker, when Hulkamania runs wild on you.

Hope they go out of business and stay down for the 3 count after that leg drop from Hogan, brother.

 

[Sentron]

When I was watching this story on my local news station one of the founders of Gawker said they would take it to appeals court.

There isn't anything to appeal, they posted content that is demeaning to Hogans' name, franchise and character, without permission from the parties involved. Disgusting human beings, I'm so glad he won this case.

I wonder how they come up with the dollar amount for these damages. He needed it though after WWE dropped him.

Agreed with this, and that whole WWE situation is bullshit as well. In the interview where he says the n-word he wasn't trying to be racists or degrading. Hogan said it in a statement as a follow to the question; Did Booker T ever have a catch phrase just like you say brother? "Yeah he would call me and other friend 'my nigga' and I wouldn't say it back because, well you know."

Hulk IMO is a genuinely nice person, that had some shitty events happen to him and glad he got some money back.

 

[Sacredavenger22]

I heard that Florida has a rule where to appeal you have to front the amount of money needed to pay out to the court or something like that. 

 

[bsp]

They need to post $50,000,000 bail just to appeal.

[video=youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKJDAVvs_JA[/video]

 

[Incognito Penguin]

ABC News
Hulk Hogan Sex Video Jury Awards $25M in Punitive Damages, Above the $115 Million Already Awarded. 
[size=medium][font=Proxima-Nova, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]According to the Associated Press, the judgment involves Gawker Media paying Hogan $15 million, Gawker founder Nick Denton paying $10 million, and the website's former editor-in-chief, A.J. Daulerio, paying $100,000.[/font][/size]

Apparently he has been given another $25 Million...

Source
(Straight Outta ABC News)

 

[zoL]

Let's hope not only the damages but also the verdict is completely overturned on appeal.