![]() Major libel awards are often set aside or significantly reduced upon appeal, though this is not technically a libel case. ![]() Hogan has lost several related rulings in other courts over this tape. Denton also sold the minority stake of the company in January to an investment fund that is controlled by a Russian billionaire to secure its future. After another item backfired, founder Nick Denton claimed Gawker would become 20 percent nicer last summer. The wrestling entertainment company WWE fired him after disclosures that he used racial epithets for black people on the tapes, but that wasn't because of the sexually explicit footage. Hogan said he had not given his consent to be taped and that he had been humiliated by Gawker's decision to post the video clip. Hogan sought to draw distinctions between what he had previously said publicly as Hulk and how he testified under oath as the person behind the wrestling persona. Hogan had publicly joked about his sexual prowess after it came to light, leading Gawker to argue it was in the public realm as a topic. Hogan had been taped having sex with the wife of a man he said was one of his best friends, a Florida-based DJ named Bubba The Love Sponge Clem. Taped depositions from Gawker editors showed their hostility to almost any notion of privacy, with one mordantly joking that celebrity sex tapes would only not be newsworthy if they involve children under the age of 4. ![]() The verdict came after testimony that veered from the surreal to the bizarre. NPR's David Folkenflik.ĭAVID FOLKENFLIK, BYLINE: The state jury actually awarded Hogan, given name Terry Bollea, more money than he asked for. Hogan filed the lawsuit after the news and gossip site Gawker posted an excerpt of a video showing him having sex with a friend's wife. A Florida jury has awarded the professional wrestler Hulk Hogan $115 million for invasion of privacy.
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