UPDATE 7:30pm 3/18/16: A Florida jury on Friday awarded Hulk Hogan $115 million with the possibility of more after finding the Gawker website violated his privacy by publishing a sex tape of the celebrity wrestler.
Reuters reports the jury deliberated for six hours. The jury awarded Hogan $60 million for emotional distress and $55 million for economic damages. They remain sequestered until Monday when the jury will consider punitive damages and other matters.
"This is a victory for everyone who has had their privacy violated," Hogan's attorney, David Houston, said.
As the award was announced, Hogan cried and hugged Houston.
Gawker publisher Nick Denton said the website would appeal the verdict.
Hogan had sought $100 million in damages over the edited video that Gawker, a New York-based outlet known for gossip and media reporting, posted online in 2012.
The jury of two men and four women agreed with Hogan that his privacy had been violated, that the violation had caused him harm and that Hogan had a reasonable expectation of privacy.
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| Gawker's Nick Denton |
Gawker's one-minute, 41-second video depicted Hogan, 62, engaged in sex with the wife of his then-best friend, radio "shock jock" personality Bubba the Love Sponge Clem.
Hogan, a longtime star of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), said he did not know the consensual encounter had been recorded when it occurred nearly a decade ago in Bubba's home.
Gawker's video included excerpts from a 30-minute sex tape the company obtained without knowing its origin.
Hogan, whose legal name is Terry Bollea, testified that he still suffers from the humiliation of a video that went viral. The video was viewed 2.5 million times on the Gawker site.
Both named in the lawsuit, they stood by the post, which Denton said "stands up to the test of time."
UPDATE 7PM 3/18/16: The jury in Hulk Hogan's invasion of privacy suit against Gawker Media awarded the ex-wrestler $115 million Friday. The six person jury -- four women and two men -- deliberated for nearly six hours. Hogan, dressed all in black including a black bandana, cried when the verdict was announced.
UPDATE 2PM 3/18/16: Nearly three weeks after they first learned that the 62-year-old former wrestler Hulk Hogan had appeared in a sex tape, six jurors began deliberating Friday in a case that tests the bounds of the First Amendment.
Earlier Posting.....
A judge Thursday denied Gawker Media's request to play for a jury the full 30-minute Hulk Hogan sex tape.
Attorneys for Gawker had hoped to show jurors the original video they received in late Sept. 2012 that showed the former wrestler having sex with the wife of his then-best friend, Tampa DJ Bubba the Love Sponge Clem. They have argued that because Gawker didn't publish the entire video, the website's editors acted responsibly by only showing clips that emphasized the writer's point about the banality of celebrity sex tapes.
According to The Tampa Bay Times, rather than posting all the footage, Gawker editors winnowed it down to a one-minute and 41-second excerpt, of which nine seconds showed actual sex. Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, sued over the video, arguing it violated his privacy, and demanded $100 million. The case could go to the jury as early as Friday.
That highlight reel, which was watched by some 2.5 million people online, is all that jurors will be allowed to see. And they will not watch it in the courtroom, as had been previously discussed, but will see it in the jury room when they break for deliberations.
Hogan appeared on the stand last week, but Thursday's depositions gave Gawker one more opportunity to raise questions about Hogan's discomfort with some aspect of his sex life going public.
In a 2014 deposition, Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, was shown an advertisement he did for the web hosting company Hostamania. The ad parodied the music video for Miley Cyrus' hit single "Wrecking Ball," and closed with a shot of Hogan's exposed derriere.
Gawker argues that its publication of the sex tape is protected by the First Amendment in part because of how much Hogan has made his sex life a matter of public interest.
Hogan's attorneys have countered that argument by claiming that there is a difference between his wrestling persona and the man behind the character.
According to CNNMoney, after saying that his in-ring persona is both wholesome and family-oriented, Hogan was asked in the deposition if he felt embarrassed that the ad is available on the internet.
"No, because it's an advertisement for a promotional piece in character," he said. "I think it's fun."
In another 2014 deposition, Gawker's attorneys played a clip of a lewd interview between Hogan and Bubba "the Love Sponge" Clem, the radio host who recorded the sex tape. The tape showed Hogan having sex with Clem's wife at the time, Heather Cole. Hogan settled with both Clem and Cole out of court.
Hogan said in the deposition that he did the interview in character.
"I thought we were doing a skit, a comedy routine, so privacy never entered my mind at that time as best as I can recall," he said.
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