First Amendment Truning Point? Jury awards Hulk Hogan $115 million in Gawker sex tape suit
Jury awards Hulk Hogan $115 million in Gawker sex tape
suit
By TAMARA LUSH
Mar. 18, 2016 9:36 PM EDT
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — A Florida jury sided with
ex-pro wrestler Hulk Hogan on Friday and awarded him $115 million in his sex
tape lawsuit against Gawker Media.
The jurors reached the decision Friday evening, less than
six hours after they began deliberations. The trial lasted two weeks, and Hogan
wept as the verdict was read.
The jury isn't finished; they will return to court Monday
to award punitive damages beyond Friday's sum. Just moments after the verdict,
Gawker founder Nick Denton said he will appeal, based on evidence that wasn't
introduced in court.
"Given the key evidence and the most important
witness in this case were withheld from the jury, we all knew the appeals court
would need to resolve this case," Denton said.
Hogan's team issued a statement as well: "We're
exceptionally happy with the verdict. 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."
Hogan, whose given name is Terry Bollea, sued Gawker for
$100 million for posting a video of him having sex with his former best
friend's wife. Hogan contended the 2012 post violated his privacy.
First Amendment experts, media lawyers and privacy
advocates watched the case closely.
"It's a huge damage award, and just the idea that a
celebrity has a right to privacy that outweighs freedom of the press and the
public's right to know, that's a huge shift in American free press law,"
said Samantha Barbas, a law professor at the University at Buffalo and the
author of "The Laws of Image," which focuses on the history of libel
and privacy. "It could potentially be a turning point in law."
The verdict and the unsealing of hundreds of pages of
documents late in the day capped a three week judicial circus in the sleepy St.
Petersburg courtroom. Jurors, media and thousands who followed the case on
Twitter and livestream video were treated to days of details about Hogan's sex
life, body part size, and images of him in thong underwear. There was wrestling
history, videos of Hogan yukking it up with Howard Stern and, most notably, how
Gawker — a 12-year-old news and gossip website in New York City— does
journalism differently from legacy media.
The unsealed documents will undoubtedly be key in Gawker's
appeals process. The evidence was unsealed because a group of media companies,
including The Associated Press, sued for access and won. The civil court judge
in the case had ruled that the documents be sealed, but an appellate court
sided with the media companies, saying they were of legitimate public interest.
The documents outline allegations, facts and conflicting
testimony. Among them: assertions that Hogan filed the lawsuit to hide racist
comments made on video, that the woman who Hogan had sex with knew it was being
filmed, and that Hogan participated in an FBI investigation and sting because
he was being extorted.
Earlier Friday, in spirited closing arguments, lawyers
for Hogan and Gawker discussed themes of personal life versus celebrity and
freedom of speech versus the right to privacy.
Hogan's attorneys told jurors this is the core of the
case: "Gawker took a secretly recorded sex tape and put it on the
Internet."
They said Hogan didn't consent to the video, that Gawker
didn't follow usual journalism procedures before posting it and that the video
wasn't newsworthy. Gawker did not try to contact Hogan or the woman in the
video; nor did the website contact the woman's husband, DJ Bubba The Love
Sponge Clem, who recorded the video.
It was never conclusively determined during the trial who
leaked the video to the media. Clem invoked his right to not incriminate
himself and wasn't called as a witness. Hogan sued Clem and settled for $5,000.
Hogan didn't ask for any of this to happen, lawyer
Kenneth Turkel said, adding that Bollea, the private man, expected privacy
during an intimate moment. Much was made during the trial of Hogan's celebrity
persona versus Bollea's privacy.
"I want you to imagine the fact that for 35-plus
years he is essentially an actor, an entertainer, who has played the same
role," Turkel said.
He said Hogan "has every right, every right, to keep
whatever precious private moments in his life, which for this gentleman are
very few."
Gawker's attorneys told the jury that the video is "not
like a real celebrity sex tape" and urged them to watch the video, which
contains nine seconds of sexual content.
"He has consistently chosen to put his private life
out there, for public consumption," attorney Michael Sullivan said.
In the video, Bollea can reportedly be heard asking Clem:
"You're not filming this, are you?"
"Why does that he ask that?" Sullivan said.
"Because it's Bubba's bedroom. If anyone knows the dark and twisted things
that Bubba is into, you can bet it is Mr. Bollea — you can bet it's Hulk
Hogan."
He suggested that although the jurors might find the
video, Gawker and Hogan's sex life distasteful, they must protect the First
Amendment right to free speech.
A jury's monetary award isn't the last word. Such awards
are usually appealed and are often reduced by appeals courts.
Hogan, who once had a reality TV show was silent Friday
night as he walked out of the courthouse.
The 62-year-old Hogan was clad all in black and wearing
sunglasses in the twilight. He didn't speak to the media, and declined to sign
an autograph request from a fan.
Comments
Post a Comment