As we reported earlier this week, a judge in Florida denied Gawker’s motion for a new trial in the Hulk Hogan case and the request to have the initial verdict dropped or reduced.
The New York Times has published a new report revealing more details on Hogan’s latest win over Gawker, and is noting Gawker argued many of the sealed documents during the trial should have been made available to the jury, and those documents contained the racist remarks which got Hogan fired from WWE. Gawler further argued that no other plaintiff in a similar Florida case has ever been awarded such a high amount of money, and the objectivity of the jury was tainted in the case.
We also noted that Paypal co-founder and Facebook angel investor Peter Thiel had been secretly bankrolling Hulk Hogan’s lawsuit to the tune of $10 million, and this was also something Gawker had an issue with. Gawker lawyers argued Thiel’s involvement in the case was new discovery material, which should have been made available to the defense from the get-go, but the judge refused to look at any documents involving Thiel.
Read Also: Peter Thiel Secretly Bankrolling Hulk Hogan’s Gawker Case
For those of you wondering why Thiel was involved in the Hogan case, he has a personal stake in the matter as he previously had a grievance with Gawker when they attempted to out him as gay in a 2007 article titled “Peter Thiel is totally gay, people”. Thiel had the following to say to the New York Times regarding his involvement in the Hogan case:
“It’s less about revenge and more about specific deterrence this week. I saw Gawker pioneer a unique and incredibly damaging way of getting attention by bullying people even when there was no connection with the public interest. Even someone like Terry Bollea who is a millionaire and famous and a successful person didn’t quite have the resources to do this alone.”
In an open letter written for Gawker by site CEO Nick Denton, Denton wonders whether or not Hogan was being paid by Thiel during the lawsuit bankroll process. Denton wrote the following:
“You [Thiel] admit you have been planning the punishment of Gawker and its writers for years, and that you have so far spent $10 million to fund litigation against the company. Charles Harder, the Hollywood plaintiff’s lawyer who has marshaled your legal campaign, is representing not just the wrestler Hulk Hogan on your behalf, but two other subjects of stories in suits against Gawker and its editorial staff.”
Nick was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and lived there until the age of 18, when he decided to pack his flack jacket and move to New York City.
