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Hulk Hogan/Gawker Sex Tape Trial – Jury Verdict: Gawker Media May Have To Appeal

By Stephen Jordan
Published on: 07:41 PST, Mar 18, 2016

The Hulk Hogan and Gawker Media sex tape lawsuit continues, and it looks as if the time has come for a verdict, reports Tampa Bay Times. A total of six jurors began deliberating on Friday, March 18, following the closing arguments from Hogan and Gawker.

Gawker Media has claimed that they were well within their legal rights to publish Hulk Hogan’s sex tape with best friend Bubba the Love Sponge Clem’s ex-wife Heather. But attorney Kenneth Turkel insists that it was indecent for Gawker to not at least call Hulk Hogan for a comment before they posted the sex tape on their website. Gawker Media’s lawyer Michael Sullivan countered by citing that the First Amendment protects the online publication.

The jury in this case will have to decide whether or not the sex tape was worth being posted as a newsworthy story. Sullivan made the argument that Hogan, by openly talking about the sex tape numerous times, made his personal sex life newsworthy. Before Gawker had posted the tape on their site, other online publications had already written about it, though none of them published any clips from the tape.

Hulk Hogan, 62, was embarrassed and humiliated when the tape was originally released in 2012, according to his testimony. He stated that his public persona should not allow his private life to be exposed in the way that it was. While Gawker states that they did not put any advertisements on the post, thus not making any money off it, the online publication still saw benefits from the amount of online traffic the sex tape brought in.

“I want to begin our discussion with a simple thought,” said attorney Ken Turkel. “Mr. Bollea didn’t create this… He didn’t consent to the video or post. He wasn’t even called before this post was put up… The idea that in 2012 this video was sent to Gawker and they didn’t have the common decency to make one call gives you all you need to know about whether they are protected by the First Amendment.”

The one-minute and 41-second video that Gawker Media posted on their website was never shown to the jurors involved in this lawsuit. However they were allowed to view it during deliberations, with Sullivan advising that they do so.

“Do you think the media can do whatever they want?,” asked Turkel. “All they had to do was the decent, decent thing. The power of the media to do great harm, and the profits that come with it… Let’s get to the punitive stage, and let’s get some justice here.”

“What video did they not show you?” Michael Sullivan asked the jury. “The very one that that Mr. Bollea claims is so damaging. Ask yourself why did they not show you that video?” Sullivan went into detail about how the video itself was not all that graphic. He noted the grainy video quality and the fact that there was no visible nudity. “Do you think anyone is going to pay $5 for that?” he asked.

Sullivan insisted that if Gawker had truly intended on gaining financial benefits from the Hulk Hogan sex tape, than what they posted on their website would have been drastically different. Hogan’s lawyers said that the sex tape itself was worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, while Gawker argued that the post was worth only $11,000.

After jurors were released for deliberation, Gawker, in a released statement, said that they may have to appeal a jury verdict against it and let the appeals court resolve everything. Gawker was disappointed that Bubba Clem could not be present to give his testimony for the jury.

[Photo by John Pendygraft-Pool/Getty Images]

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