Jump to content
Pro Wrestling Only

Hulk Hogan vs. Gawker Lawsuit


goodhelmet

Recommended Posts

New-ish documentary on Netflix called Nobody Speaks. First half is all about Gawker/Hogan and was pretty good.

 

I, for one, after watching the documentary and seeing what's been going on with Trump's attack on the media have kinda switched sides a bit -

 

In 2016, I didn't really care about the specifics of the case and just looked at it as Gawker/TMZ getting taken down a peg because they'd violated a celebrity's privacy and that sex tapes aren't newsworthy because, hey, what's the difference between this and "The Fappening"? Don't celebrities deserve the right to seek justice when their private pics and videos are leaked?

 

But the documentary, which is imperfect (especially in its 2nd and 3rd acts), made a convincing argument that the threat of censorship is real and that the 1st Amendment and a free press are more important than Hulk Hogan's embarrassment or Paige's embarrassment or Jennifer Lawrence's privacy.

 

This is also why, as a poster asked above, we should care that a billionaire like Theil was secretly behind the case. Even if you believe Gawker acted shamefully by outing Theil (to which, again, the documentary offers a reasonable counterpoint - that the article in question was not only complimentary towards Theil but was really about how even in "liberal" Silicon Valley, LGBT VCs feel the need to remain closeted), do we really want the richest 1%, with bottomless resources, to be able to piggyback onto whatever civil suits choose just so they can win petty disputes?

 

Again, I hope others - especially those who were maybe like me and actually felt sympathy for Hogan - take a minute to watch the first 40 minutes of the film. After viewing, I actually have sympathy for Hogan in a different way. I feel sorry that he was treated like a total pawn and that his name is tied to a case that was really about Theil and the powerful anti-media Right trying to take out an independent press. I think Hulk Hogan thought was fighting for celebrity privacy when, at the end of the day, this case had almost nothing at all to do with that (arguably) noble cause.

 

And as long as I'm on a rant, if you still think the case was at all about "making Hogan whole" and not eliminating Gawker (and putting sites like it on alert), think of the judgment. Even the biggest Hulkamaniac would probably agree that $140 million is quite a settlement when you compare it to your state's average wrongful death payout. I mean, Hulk Hogan deserves $140 million because it got leaked that he said racist stuff and slept with Bubba's trophy wife, but Ferguson settles the Michael Brown suit for $1.5? Castile's life was $3? Eric Garner is choked to death for selling loose cigarettes and NY pays out under $6 mil? If we used the Gawker case as our baseline, we'd be bankrupting municipalities every 3 months, but the LIFE of someone is worth less than Hulk Hogan's untarnished reputation? $140 million wasn't about doing right by Hulk, it was about putting a scare in the media and the fact that you can tie several of these right wing billionaires together makes it even scarier.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 104
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

New-ish documentary on Netflix called Nobody Speaks. First half is all about Gawker/Hogan and was pretty good.

 

I, for one, after watching the documentary and seeing what's been going on with Trump's attack on the media have kinda switched sides a bit -

 

In 2016, I didn't really care about the specifics of the case and just looked at it as Gawker/TMZ getting taken down a peg because they'd violated a celebrity's privacy and that sex tapes aren't newsworthy because, hey, what's the difference between this and "The Fappening"? Don't celebrities deserve the right to seek justice when their private pics and videos are leaked?

 

But the documentary, which is imperfect (especially in its 2nd and 3rd acts), made a convincing argument that the threat of censorship is real and that the 1st Amendment and a free press are more important than Hulk Hogan's embarrassment or Paige's embarrassment or Jennifer Lawrence's privacy.

 

This is also why, as a poster asked above, we should care that a billionaire like Theil was secretly behind the case. Even if you believe Gawker acted shamefully by outing Theil (to which, again, the documentary offers a reasonable counterpoint - that the article in question was not only complimentary towards Theil but was really about how even in "liberal" Silicon Valley, LGBT VCs feel the need to remain closeted), do we really want the richest 1%, with bottomless resources, to be able to piggyback onto whatever civil suits choose just so they can win petty disputes?

 

Again, I hope others - especially those who were maybe like me and actually felt sympathy for Hogan - take a minute to watch the first 40 minutes of the film. After viewing, I actually have sympathy for Hogan in a different way. I feel sorry that he was treated like a total pawn and that his name is tied to a case that was really about Theil and the powerful anti-media Right trying to take out an independent press. I think Hulk Hogan thought was fighting for celebrity privacy when, at the end of the day, this case had almost nothing at all to do with that (arguably) noble cause.

 

And as long as I'm on a rant, if you still think the case was at all about "making Hogan whole" and not eliminating Gawker (and putting sites like it on alert), think of the judgment. Even the biggest Hulkamaniac would probably agree that $140 million is quite a settlement when you compare it to your state's average wrongful death payout. I mean, Hulk Hogan deserves $140 million because it got leaked that he said racist stuff and slept with Bubba's trophy wife, but Ferguson settles the Michael Brown suit for $1.5? Castile's life was $3? Eric Garner is choked to death for selling loose cigarettes and NY pays out under $6 mil? If we used the Gawker case as our baseline, we'd be bankrupting municipalities every 3 months, but the LIFE of someone is worth less than Hulk Hogan's untarnished reputation? $140 million wasn't about doing right by Hulk, it was about putting a scare in the media and the fact that you can tie several of these right wing billionaires together makes it even scarier.

I agree with you on points of your thoughts like it can be disconcerting to see a possibility of some like Theil who has the resources to possibly influence the censorship of free speech and that it can be confusing as to the monetary amount a loss of life gets vs some celebrities reputation in terms of the total awarded.

However some points I thought when taking this documentary in were if Gawker was any sort of credible news source then I'm sure there would've been opposing wealthy folks who would've jumped to back them if they felt Peter Thiel's involvement and backing was unfair.

But they didn't because Gawker made their bed for years with the BS they put out there as news when it was no more than dragging people's personal and private matters through the mud for a dollar. Despite whatever good intentions they seemed to have in terms of promoting Gay acceptance by outing someone who had not given the okay or chose not to publicly broadcast or disclose it for whatever personal reasons.

I do agree Hulk Hogan is a public figure sure but what is so news worthy about him on tape having sex with another consenting adult in the privacy of someone's home?

Stolen material like that Hulk tape, the fappening and any other stolen sex tapes or materials of celebs is not news, it's stolen private material that is being broadcast to the mass public for profit without the authorisation of the parties involved, it's of no benefit to the general public and damaging to a majority of these folks livelihoods(in the Hogan case).

Who can argue that knowing that ____ celeb is engaging in consensual sex with legal adults is important for the general public to know about a public figure?

I don't care who is taking part(as long as it's consensual between people over 18), it's total bullshit and precedent needs to be set that it's not acceptable and has no news purpose because in the ever expanding reach of easily obtainable mass media it is only going to get worse without intervention .

Bottom line the public has no business in anyone's bedrooms without the consent of the parties involved. This Hogan case is a poor representation to try and attach an attack on free speech to when the situation had little to do with the benefit of the public interest for this footage to be released for profit by a glorified gossip site.

I do think free speech and media is extremely important but to base that notion atop a stolen tape of consenting adults of legal age engaging in sexual acts in the privacy of their home isn't defenceable to me no matter who is involved.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

But your point is moot; the sex tape post did nothing to hurt Hogan's livelihood. The transcript of the racist comments did that, and that came out almost three years later. There is no justification for the $100 million compensatory damages award in this case. There's not just the wrongful death comparisons, but also that Hogan made no case for the type of emotional distress that warrants large awards (lack of medical & psychological treatment, etc.).

 

There's a lot of grey area and nuance, which is why Brian cost it as a documentary topic. But even if it never happened, Thiel would have been funding every possible case in an attempt at death by 1,000 cuts via legal fees.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm the guy who asked why I should care Thiel bankrolled the lawsuit. The movie tried to give me reasons but ultimately failed. I still don't care. As long as the lawsuit isn't frivolous, and Hogan's wasn't, I have no problem with it receiving outside funding because of a (possibly) petty vendetta. Key words there being "as long as the lawsuit isn't frivolous".

 

As a whole, I'm not sure the movie works entirely. The first part, with Hogan/Gawker, is very good. The second & third sections, with the "the media is under attack" narrative also is pretty good. Together, however, they make an incongruous whole. Just feels like they are separate movies spliced together. I do think the movie has some valid points about the news media being under attack.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

My family is going thru legal problems. The government agency we are dealing with are fully corrupt and have no real guidelines to follow.

Anyway a relative has taken an attitude of "it doesn't matter they can do what they want." to justify bad behavior. My feeling is that it is even more important to stay on the straight and narrow when dealing with an enemy who cheats. That way they have no way to justify their actions.

Gawker knew Thiel was gunning for them. They made a moral decision not to show the Fappening hacked pics. They should have maintained that consistency. At that point they admitted they were wrong.

Personally I think Ferguson should be out 200 million more than I think Hogan's should be reduced.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


×
×
  • Create New...