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Hulk Hogan was awarded a $115M jury verdict Friday afternoon in his lawsuit against Gawker Media. The wrestler and reality TV star, whose given name is Terry Bollea, sued Gawker for invasion of privacy and emotional distress after the site published an excerpt from his sex tape with the wife of his friend Bubba "The Love Sponge" Clem.
Bollea's team told us in an email that they're "exceptionally happy with the verdict," which is $15M more than what they requested. "We think it represents a statement as to the public's disgust with the invasion of privacy disguised as journalism. The verdict says no more."
On Monday, the jury will consider punitive damages, Wired reports. Presided over by Judge Pamela Campbell, the trial took place in a state court in St. Petersburg, FL; Bollea lives in nearby Clearwater and grew up in Tampa.
[UPDATE 3/21: The jury has awarded an extra $25M in punitive damages, reports Law360. Of that, $15M is against Gawker, $10M against Gawker founder Nick Denton, and $100k against former editor Albert Daulerio.]
Gawker founder Nick Denton and former editor-in-chief Albert Daulerio were also found personally liable. Denton has already announced plans to appeal the verdict, saying in a statement posted on Friday evening, "Given key evidence and the most important witness were both withheld from this jury, we all knew the the [sic] appeals court will need to resolve the case."
If the company "had been able to present the full case to the jury" it is confident it would have prevailed, Denton wrote. "That's why we feel very positive about the appeal that we have already begun preparing, as we expect to win this case ultimately."
Gawker president and GC Heather Dietrick had not expected to win the case, reports Politico, as she previously told employees in October, "It’s probably difficult to win the case entirely, outright, knowing the jury that we’re facing, but it’s possible."
In a sealed motion from June 2015 that was unsealed only on Friday afternoon, Gawker lawyer Gregg Thomas wrote that Bollea had sued Gawker not because his privacy was invaded, but because "He wanted to protect his public image after being told that the sex tape(s) included footage of him making 'several racial slurs.'" According to Politico, Florida's Second District Court of Appeal had ordered on Wednesday that the motion be unsealed.
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