Gawker Expects To Win Hulk Legal Battle

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Gawker Media LLC plans to set aside at least $5.5 million from the sale of its websites to fund a continuing legal battle with former professional wrestler Hulk Hogan, a feud the company says it intends to win.

The Wall Street Journal reports court papers filed Friday in Manhattan, with Gawker asked a bankruptcy judge to approve an outline of a liquidation plan that would wind down what remains of the former internet publisher.

The plan includes funding for an appeal of a $130 million judgment owed to Terry Bollea, Hulk Hogan’s real name. The judgment forced the company and its founder into bankruptcy earlier this year.

In court papers, Gawker says that it is protected by the First Amendment and points to the fact that Mr. Bollea lost when he initially sued Gawker in federal court.

Earlier this year, a Florida jury awarded Mr. Bollea $115 million plus another $15 million in punitive damages stemming from a sex tape Gawker published in 2012. Gawker and its founder, Nick Denton, along with former Gawker editor A.J. Daulerio are jointly liable for the $115 million portion of the judgment.

Since filing for bankruptcy, Gawker sold off most of its assets to a unit of Univision Communications Inc., which renamed them Gizmodo Media Group. The $135 million sale nudged Gawker’s editorial operations out the reach of the defamation lawsuits brought by Mr. Bollea and others.

The corporate shell left behind in bankruptcy, which is still called Gawker Media, must repay its debts and resolve continuing litigation. Court papers show gawker.com, the embattled site that published Mr. Bollea’s sex tape, wasn’t included in the Univision deal and is still up for sale to raise additional money for creditors.