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Hogan wins lawsuit against Gawker; awarded $115M

Posted at 2:01 PM, Mar 18, 2016
and last updated 2016-03-18 20:26:12-04

UPDATED STORY | Jury awards Hulk Hogan $115 million

 

BREAKING UPDATE

A jury has sided with ex-pro wrestler Hulk Hogan and awarded him $115 million in his sex tape lawsuit against Gawker Media.
 
The jurors reached the decision Friday evening, less than six hours after they began deliberations. The trial lasted two weeks.
 
Hogan, whose given name is Terry Bollea, sued Gawker for $100 million for posting a video in 2012 of him having sex with his former best friend's wife. Hogan contended it was a violation of his privacy.
 
Gawker's editors contended the video and an accompanying post was a newsworthy commentary on the ordinariness of celebrity sex videos.

ORIGINAL STORY:

A 6-person jury of 2 men and 4 women are deliberating right now in the $100 Million lawsuit that wrestling star Terry Bollea [known best as Hulk Hogan] is prosecuting against Gawker Media over the publishing of a video showing him having sex with a woman in 2006.

Closing arguments concluded Friday morning after two weeks of testimony was given, and played, for the jury.

Terry Bollea told ABC Action News after the testimony wrapped up on Thursday that he felt everything was going "as expected" in the trial.

Bollea's legal counsel, David Houston, shared this statement after closing arguments today:

The materials being released are a separate matter and not part of this case.  The court is releasing FBI documents which have been previously leaked to the media through an unknown source.  It is necessary to note that throughout this three-and-a-half year lawsuit, Bubba Clem has only testified once under oath, and in that testimony confirmed that Terry Bollea had no knowledge of being filmed or anything to do with it.  It was not until 2012, five years later, that Mr. Bollea learned anything about it.  Additionally, it makes no sense that there would be an FBI investigation brought by Mr. Bollea into an extortion attempt if he had anything to do with the filming or dissemination.

Also on Friday, after closing statements, Gawker Media sent ABC Action News the following statement:

Statement from Gawker Media:
As the trial concludes, we're disappointed the jury was unable to see key evidence and hear testimony from the most important witness. So it may be necessary for the appeals court to resolve this case. Hulk Hogan's best friend Bubba the Love Sponge -- who made the tape and offered up his wife in the first place -- originally told his radio listeners that Hulk Hogan knew he was being taped. The jury was only able to hear a questionable version of events. Bubba should have been required to appear in court and explain what really happened. 
 
There is still more to the story. We expect the upcoming release of improperly sealed documents, important evidence that the jury should have been able to see, will begin revealing the true facts that the jury deserved to know about during deliberations.