Round Two: Hulk Hogan Sues Gawker Media … Again!

Despite having already been awarded $140 million in his original lawsuit against Gawker Media, pro-wrestling star Hulk Hogan isn’t done. He’s suing the media company again, this time for allegedly releasing a tape of him saying the N-word.

Hogan, whose original case against Gawker Media received extensive coverage here at Breitbart, alleges that Gawker released sealed court documents to the National Inquirer in summer 2015 that contained quotes of him using the slur. Gawker denies that they leaked the transcript.

As a result of the story, Hogan was fired from World Wrestling Entertainment Inc (WWE) and had his name removed from the organization’s Hall of Fame. The toy company Mattel stopped producing Hulk Hogan action figures, and the wrestler’s merchandise was removed from shelves at Toys R Us, Walmart, and Target.

In his new lawsuit, Hogan’s lawyers claim the wrestler’s “income was cut off, his legacy in entertainment was severely damaged (if not completely destroyed), and his global brand was forever tarnished.”

The comments that caused the wrestler so much trouble concerned his daughter Brooke:

I mean, I’d rather if she was going to f*** some ni***r, I’d rather have her marry an 8-foot-tall ni***r worth a hundred million dollars! Like a basketball player! I guess we’re all a little racist. F***ing ni***r.

Hogan later apologized for the comments, telling People magazine that there was “no excuse” for them and that they were “unacceptable.”

A number of black wrestlers, including Virgil and Kamala, rallied to Hogan’s defense at the time, insisting that the wrestler is not a racist. Retired basketball star Dennis Rodman also came to the wrestler’s aid, insisting that he is “most certainly not a racist.”

If successful, Hogan’s new lawsuit will mean further financial trouble for Gawker, a once-mighty media empire that has been beset by monetary woes, staff walkouts, and scandal over the past two years.

In a statement, Gawker said:

This is getting ridiculous. Hulk Hogan is a litigious celebrity abusing the court system to control his public image and media coverage. It was absurd enough that Hulk Hogan claimed $100m for emotional distress and economic damage for a story about a sex life that he’d already made public. Now Hulk Hogan is blaming Gawker for racist remarks he made on another sex tape, which Gawker never had. As we’ve said before and are happy to say again: Gawker did not leak the information. It’s time for Hulk Hogan to take responsibility for his own words, because the only person who got Hulk Hogan fired from the WWE is Hulk Hogan