Regressive-left blogging network and news outlet Gawker is attempting to obtain a new trial after being ordered by the courts to pay a total of $140 million to former wrestler and reality television star Hulk Hogan in March.
Gawker was ordered to pay the sum which included $115 million in compensation and another $25 million in punitive damages after the news outlet posted a section of Hogan’s private sex tape, which he claimed was filmed and sent to Gawker without his knowledge.
Hogan won in the trial, which featured highlights including former Gawker editor in chief AJ Daulerio claiming he’d post a sex tape as long as it featured a child older than four, but Gawker suggests that an appeals court could overturn the ruling.
“Gawker is now beginning the process of challenging the jury’s verdict in a trial where key evidence was wrongly withheld and the jury was not properly instructed on the Constitutional standards for newsworthiness… and even if the verdict were to stand, there is no justification for awarding tens of millions of dollars never seen by victims of death and serious injuries,” claimed Gawker.
According to a poll conducted by YouGov US, only 7% of American citizens believed Gawker’s posting of the Hulk Hogan sex tape was “acceptable,” with a massive 77% believing it to be completely unacceptable. 80% of American’s also believed it should be illegal for a media outlet to release private sex tapes in general without permission.
“After Gawker had posted the video, it was almost like when I lived in Minnesota and the sun went away and it was like seven months of being real cloudy when I lived in the Twin Cities,” said the former world heavyweight champion in an interview after the trial. “I would run into kids who would say, ‘I’d downloaded the Hulk Hogan Wrestlemania video, and Hulk Hogan sex tape came up’… I dealt with so many horrible things, people in public asking me about the tape. I felt like I had, all of a sudden I had a heat lamp on me at all times… I felt like I was in the middle of a joke’’.
“We emerged victorious once and we plan to do so again,” stated Hogan’s legal team. “Of note it is apparent Gawker is unable to accept responsibility for their actions or demonstrate any intention of correcting their behavior.”
Charlie Nash is a frequent contributor to Breitbart Tech and former editor of the Squid Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter @MrNashington.
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