Days later, after reaching a settlement with Hogan, Clem sang a different tune. Related: Hulk Hogan can't compare his case to Erin Andrews' case, judge rulesīut after it did, Clem was anything but sympathetic, saying Hogan knew full well that he was being recorded. It was captured by surveillance cameras inside the Clem's home, and Bubba Clem has testified that it was never supposed to see the light of day. The footage showed Hogan having sex with Heather Clem, who at the time was the wife of radio host Bubba "the Love Sponge" Clem. Daulerio, is named as a defendant, as is Gawker founder Nick Denton. The post's author, former Gawker editor A.J. Gawker published one minute and 40 seconds worth of the 30-minute sex tape in 2012. "We are defending the First Amendment against Hulk Hogan's effort to create a world where celebrities can promote themselves around any topic, in this case sex, and then veto how the media covers their lives," the company said in a statement on Thursday. They say that awards Constitutional protections to the tape's publication. Gawker's attorneys contend that Hogan made his sexual exploits a matter of public interest, and that the sex tape itself had been covered by the media. "Clearly, this has never been a First Amendment case," he said. Houston said he's frustrated with the argument that Gawker is "pumping to the public": that the publication of the sex tape is covered by the First Amendment. "We feel very positive about the appeal that we have already begun preparing, as we expect to win this case ultimately," Denton said in a statement released late last week."Then we'll turn it over to Gawker and see how much lipstick they can put on a pig," Houston said. Gawker might have to pay a $50 million bond in the meantime.ĭenton expects to win his case in appeals court, and there have been indications that judges might have a more favorable interpretation of Gawker's legal argument. Regardless, Gawker is set up for a fight in appeals court to overturn the $140 million in damages a Florida jury decided it was on the hook for. Later that year, Radar Online and the National Enquirer published quotes that match Denton's description, purportedly transcribed from a separate and different sex tape depicting Hogan and Sponge Clem, the two people who were in the clip that Gawker published. In 2015, Gawker sued the FBI for evidence related to an investigation into additional Hogan sex tapes. The existence of additional Hogan sex tapes has been part of the background of Gawker's fight with the former pro wrestler over first amendment issues. I had suspicions, but it is now clear that Hogan’s lawsuit was a calculated attempt to prevent Gawker, or anyone else who might obtain evidence of his racism, from publishing a truth more interesting and more damaging than a revelation about his sex life. In fact, according to Denton, there are text messages out there that describe Hogan's motivation in bringing the suit:Īs I have come to learn, Hogan himself put it in a text message to his best friend, the radio shock-jock Bubba Clem, days after we published our story: “We know there’s more than one tape out there and a one that has several racist slurs were told."Īpparently, the part of Gawker's argument containing information about the additional tapes was not available to the jury that awarded $25 million in punitive damages in addition to the $115 million awarded last week. In a post published on Gawker on Tuesday, Denton wrote:Īs our lawyers argued in legal briefs that were kept secret by the trial judge from the public-and even from me-until an appeals court unsealed them on Friday, Hogan filed the claim because he was terrified that one of the other tapes, which memorialized his rant about his daughter dating “f-g n-s,” might emerge. The lawsuit brought by Hogan accused the New York-based blog of invading his privacy.īut Gawker founder Nick Denton believes there's another reason why Hogan brought the suit: to prevent the release of additional videos that show him using racial slurs. Gawker Media recently lost a gigantic lawsuit that could cost it over $140 million, brought against it by former pro wrestler and reality TV star Hulk Hogan over the publication of a sex tape in 2012. Hulk Hogan, whose given name is Terry Bollea, is pictured in court on Tuesday, March 8, 2016, during his trial against Gawker Media, in St Petersburg, Fl.Īssociated Press/John Pendygraft/Tampa Bay Times Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |