Hulk Hogan is to be awarded an extra $25 million in punitive damages from Gawker in addition to the $115 million awarded last week.
The ruling was made after Gawker Media posted a sex tape in 2012 featuring Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, having sex with his friend’s wife. Hogan claimed that he did not give permission for the act to be filmed or released, and finally won the trial last week.
Gawker Media was originally ordered to pay $15 million in punitive damages, whilst Gawker founder Nick Denton has been ordered to pay $10 million. Former Gawker editor-in-chief AJ Daulerio, who’s most notable scenes in the trial have included making jokes about child porn under oath during his deposition, has been ordered to pay $100,000.
It was determined that Gawker’s value was around $83 million, earning nearly $50 million last year in revenue, and that Denton’s net-worth spanning several assets was around $121 million, not including his fancy multi-million dollar pad. Daulerio, the editor who decided to post the sex tape however, was discovered to still be $27,000 in debt from student loans with no financial assets of worth.
Allegedly due to Daulerio’s financial situation, one juror asked the judge whether the defendants could perform community service instead. The judge rejected this suggestion.
“$115 million is punishment enough… the amount you have rendered in your verdict is already far beyond their means” announced one of Gawker’s lawyers Mike Berry. “Your verdict will send a chill down the spine of writers, producers, and publishers”.
However it’s probably safe to say that writers, producers, and publishers need not fear unless they maliciously post a private sex tape filmed without someone’s permission.
Charlie Nash is a frequent contributor to Breitbart Tech and former editor of the Squid Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter @MrNashington.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.