Adios Gawker

This should bring the Denton empire to an end sooner rather than later:

Hulk Hogan Gets $115M Verdict Against Gawker at Sex Tape Trial. Weighing free speech against privacy, a Florida jury has decided to uphold the sanctity of the latter by turning in a $115 million verdict against Gawker over its 2012 posting of a Hulk Hogan sex tap.

Showing someone else’s video isn’t free speech. But regardless, it’s good to see the one of GG’s most egregious enemies going down.

Cernovich’s video analysis summarized:

  •     Gawker had excellent legal counsel, this was simply a case no one could win.
  •     New York snark does not translate well to judges and juries.
  •     Gawker will need to post an appeal bond of 10% of the damages verdict.
  •     The jury may award up to 3 times the $115 million in punitive damages, for a total award of hundreds of millions of dollars.
  •     Gawker’s revenue last year were around $44 million. There’s no way Gawker can afford to pay this verdict.
  •     Gawker owns several websites like Jezebel and Kotaku. Those sites may be sold off to the (lowest) bidder.
  •     In order to appeal the verdict, Gawker must put up the full verdict amount, or pay 10% (non-refundable) to a company. Bottom line: Gawker will need to pay millions of dollars out of pocket to appeal the Hulk Hogan verdict.