Founder of Gawker Media Nick Denton claimed that a sex-tape featuring President Obama would not be newsworthy in the Hulk Hogan vs. Gawker sex tape trial this week.
Denton also refused to answer whether he’d post a Bill and Hillary Clinton sex-tape, stating that he doesn’t believe they have sex.
The claim comes after Gawker posted a sex-tape featuring former wrestling champion Hulk Hogan and is now being sued for $100 million because of it.
After being asked in the trial whether he believed a sex-tape between President Obama and his wife Michelle would be newsworthy, Denton testified, “I confess I would have problems with that one, because I know that there would be a lot of public interest, but I wouldn’t, I wouldn’t like the story, not for any reasons of political affiliation, but just because there’s no, there’s no hypocrisy…”
“[They] seem like a loving couple and if the tape does nothing but establish the fact that they are a loving couple, I don’t see that it would have any real value in changing perceptions or establishing any truth.”
Upon being asked the same question about former-President Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary, he stated, “I don’t believe they have sex, so that question… But now you are getting into realms of absurdity.”
Gawker is not very conservative when it comes to their guidelines for posting private sex-tapes. In 2013, Denton professed in a deposition that he would post a Miley Cyrus video if one were to appear before him, stating: “Her performance at the VMAs was pretty sexual, and, as a result of that, I would assume, this would be my best guess, that there’s no kind of current story, but I would guess there would be more interest in her sex life.”
The blogging network has also faced previous lawsuits, including one for releasing a video showing Grey’s Anatomy star Eric Dane and his wife in “various states of undress” without their permission, leaving us to wonder why they posted it if their stance on Obama was that loving couple footage is not news-worthy.
Popular film director Quentin Tarantino previously accused Gawker Media of making “a business of predatory journalism, violating people’s rights to make a buck” after they shared the leaked script for Tarantino’s then-upcoming film, The Hateful Eight.
Former Gawker Editor-In-Chief A.J. Daulerio came under fire last week after proclaiming under oath that he’d only draw the line with posting a sex-tape if it featured a celebrity aged four or under, prompting a wave of horrified reactions and backlash on social media. Daulerio also admitted that he didn’t care whether the leaked tape had made Hulk Hogan emotionally distressed and added that he found it “very amusing.”
Charlie Nash is a frequent contributor to Breitbart Tech and former editor of the Squid Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter @MrNashington.