On Friday, March 18, 2016, after only about six hours of deliberation, a jury of four women and two men hit gossip-site Gawker with a $115 million damages verdict against it in the Hulk Hogan civil suit over right of privacy and publicity charges. The award, which was handed down on the same day that attorneys for both sides delivered their closing statements, included $55 million in economic damages and $60 million in noneconomic damages. Hogan had been seeking $100 million in total from the gossip site over the improper publication of an edited sex tape featuring the wrestling icon and the wife of his former best friend, radio personality Bubba the Love Sponge, so the award comes as a fairly significant uptick.
During closing statements, attorney Kenneth Turkel, representing Hogan throughout the trial, painted Gawker Media and its staff, founder Nick Denton, and the former editor-in-chief who published the explicit video, AJ Daulerio (both of whom were individually named as co-defendants in the case), as nothing more than sleazy, fake journalists who “pride themselves in their indecency.” He further told jurors that it was people like Denton and Daulerio who threaten the very idea of the First Amendment and the civil rights, particularly the right to privacy, that it seeks to protect. The jury, it seems, must have been persuaded by the argument.
On the other hand, Gawker’s attorney Michael Sullivan tried to grey the line between defining a celebrity and a private citizen, saying that to the average person, Hulk Hogan and Terry Gene Bollea, the real name of the man behind the wrestling character, are one in the same. They further said Gawker’s publication of the tape, although perhaps illicit in certain people’s eyes, was done to counter the broad and boastful assertions that Bollea had publicly used over the years to describe Hulk Hogan’s sex life.
After the verdict was announced, Gawker representatives immediately stated their intention to appeal the award. It is very likely the award amount will be reduced, however, but experts predict the jury’s decision to hold Gawker accountable for publication of the tape will stand.
A second phase of the trial will now begin to determine putative damages against Gawker, Denton, and Daulerio. It is unknown how long the extended proceedings are likely to last.