Gawker to Hulk Hogan: It’s Not Character Assassination if You Pulled the Trigger
Sorry internet, the Hulk Hogan-related sex tape drama hasn't ended yet, although we kinda wish it would. (We can still see that damned video every time we close our eyes.)
As we already told you, Hogan has reached a settlement in the first of his hat trick of lawsuits -- the one against former BFF Bubba the Love Sponge, who allowed Hogan to borrow his then-wife Heather Clem for use in the disturbing-on-so-many levels aerial video.
But of course the legal wrangling doesn't stop there, as Gawker.com has now issued a rebuttal to the $100 million suit Hogan filed against the site.
Hogan is suing Gawker for posting an edited version of the sex tape, saying that doing so damaged his reputation and commercial appeal. Because so much of that was at stake.
Gawker is refuting those claims, saying they couldn't have damaged a reputation that Hogan had already destroyed so very well on his own by admitting to adultery in his 2009 autobiography.
In other words, Gawker says Hulk Hogan himself was the downfall of his reputation.
The website has asked the judge to throw out Hogan's lawsuit -- not because $100 million is a completely ridiculous amount of money, but because they believe they had a journalistic right to publish the (blessedly) brief clip.
Furthermore, Gawker says that because existing laws protect news sources, it shouldn't have to release the identity of the person who provided the video, and the site also doesn't think it should be liable for invasion of privacy since the content of the video was newsworthy. (Not to mention cringe-worthy.)
No ruling yet from the judge, who may or may not be having an Ark of the Covenant-related reaction after being forced to repeatedly view a video of such unspeakable horrors.