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| Hulk Hogan vs. Gawker, Round 2 | Hulk Hogan vs. Gawker, Round 2 |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Hulk Hogan, the retired wrestler who won $140 million in an invasion-of-privacy lawsuit against Gawker in March after it published a sex tape of him and a friend’s wife, sued the online publication again on Monday. This time, he accused the website of intentionally inflicting emotional distress and leaking a video transcript in which he is quoted as using racial slurs. | |
| The racial comments were recorded during a 2007 encounter with the wife of his friend at the time, Todd Clem, a radio host who legally changed his name to Bubba the Love Sponge Clem. The former wrestler, whose real name is Terry G. Bollea, sued Gawker after it published a video excerpt in which he could be seen having sex with the wife. | The racial comments were recorded during a 2007 encounter with the wife of his friend at the time, Todd Clem, a radio host who legally changed his name to Bubba the Love Sponge Clem. The former wrestler, whose real name is Terry G. Bollea, sued Gawker after it published a video excerpt in which he could be seen having sex with the wife. |
| Mr. Bollea’s new lawsuit also accuses a Florida radio host and several other people of participating in a “willful and malicious conspiracy to extort him” and invade his privacy. The amount of damages he was seeking was not immediately available. | Mr. Bollea’s new lawsuit also accuses a Florida radio host and several other people of participating in a “willful and malicious conspiracy to extort him” and invade his privacy. The amount of damages he was seeking was not immediately available. |
| “Mr. Bollea said from the beginning that he would seek to hold all persons and entities fully responsible for their wrongful actions,” his lawyers said in a statement. “This lawsuit seeks to do just that.” | “Mr. Bollea said from the beginning that he would seek to hold all persons and entities fully responsible for their wrongful actions,” his lawyers said in a statement. “This lawsuit seeks to do just that.” |
| Gawker, which previously denied leaking the court-protected transcript, reiterated its denial on Monday, saying in a statement: “This is getting ridiculous.” | |
| “As we’ve said before and are happy to say again: Gawker did not leak the information. It’s time for Hulk Hogan to take responsibility for his own words, because the only person who got Hulk Hogan fired from the W.W.E. is Hulk Hogan.” | “As we’ve said before and are happy to say again: Gawker did not leak the information. It’s time for Hulk Hogan to take responsibility for his own words, because the only person who got Hulk Hogan fired from the W.W.E. is Hulk Hogan.” |
| Mr. Bollea’s comments were first published by The National Enquirer in July 2015, leading to his dismissal from World Wrestling Entertainment. In the transcript, he is quoted as saying he is “a racist, to a point,” and uses a racial slur against African-Americans while discussing suspicions that his daughter was sleeping with a black man. | |
| The new suit asserts that Gawker obtained other portions of the sex tape in hopes of using his racial comments as leverage to get him to settle or drop his claims. Furthermore, the lawsuit states, since Gawker could not publish the transcript itself because of a court order, editors passed it on to an editor’s friend at The Enquirer. | |
| As evidence, the lawsuit points to a Gawker article by its founder, Nick Denton, that predicted Mr. Bollea’s “real secret” would be revealed — it was posted soon before The Enquirer report — and a 14-minute gap between the publication of the article and a Gawker editor, Albert J. Daulerio, tweeting about it. | As evidence, the lawsuit points to a Gawker article by its founder, Nick Denton, that predicted Mr. Bollea’s “real secret” would be revealed — it was posted soon before The Enquirer report — and a 14-minute gap between the publication of the article and a Gawker editor, Albert J. Daulerio, tweeting about it. |
| “Based upon the timing and content of Daulerio’s tweet, Daulerio was aware, in advance, of The Enquirer’s plans to publish the court-protected confidential transcript,” the lawsuit argues. | “Based upon the timing and content of Daulerio’s tweet, Daulerio was aware, in advance, of The Enquirer’s plans to publish the court-protected confidential transcript,” the lawsuit argues. |
| In its statement, Gawker accused Mr. Bollea of “abusing the court system to control his public image and media coverage.” | In its statement, Gawker accused Mr. Bollea of “abusing the court system to control his public image and media coverage.” |