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Jury sides with Hulk Hogan in his sex tape lawsuit against Gawker & awards him $115m

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B

Brakke

Banned
onken said:
Too bad there'll be no money left for the Conde Nast guy whose life they ruined.
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"Ruined"? I'm curious, what was the actual fallout? He still has his CFO job. A real quick search didn't turn up much in the way of follow up stories. Was everyone just so turned off by the whole thing to report it, or was there just nothing to report?
 
KonradLaw

KonradLaw

Member
Good. Disgusting net tabloid. Hope they go under. The good parts of Gawker (like Kotaku, Lifehacker and gizmodo/io9) will get sold in this case anyway
 
B

B-Dubs

No Scrubs
Brakke said:
"Ruined"? I'm curious, what was the actual fallout? He still has his CFO job. A real quick search didn't turn up much in the way of follow up stories. Was everyone just so turned off by the whole thing to report it, or was there just nothing to report?
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Odds are it's the former. I'm actually a little surprised he never bothered suing, that I know of, since he had a pretty airtight case. No way he doesn't get money if he sued.
 
C

ClayKavalier

Banned
FF Seraphim said:
Yep, and when they did pull down the article their editors threw a fit. It was bad all around.
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Jason Schreier was one of them, I wouldn't say he pulled a fit but he definitely defended them putting it up and disagreed with them taking it down. I lost some respect for him. He does some good work, but he's a company man who works at a really shitty company.
 
C

Cow Mengde

Banned
Here's what I want to know? How in the hell do you go and steal someone's sex tape, and then release it while NOT expecting to be sued? HOW!?
 
A

Acorn

Member
Cow Mengde said:
Here's what I want to know? How in the hell do you go and steal someone's sex tape, and then release it while NOT expecting to be sued? HOW!?
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Paris Hilton & Kim Kardashian stopped their suits once they got profit sharing iirc. Not the exact same since they weren't selling it or whatever.
 
C

CDX

Member
Cow Mengde said:
Here's what I want to know? How in the hell do you go and steal someone's sex tape, and then release it while NOT expecting to be sued? HOW!?
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Because a lawsuit like this is unexpected. These type of lawsuits are very expensive, even for rich celebrities. In the past most celebrities have settled for a large cash payment instead of paying millions to lawyers and going through with a lawsuit that they might win, or might not win.

Here's what Dan Abrams had to say about a week or two ago

http://lawnewz.com/high-profile/might-an-anti-gawker-benefactor-be-covering-hulk-hogans-legal-bills/

But there is a reason this is the first case to ever go to trial over a celebrity sex tape.

Sure, part of it relates to the subject matter but the other, arguably more salient factor is money. Taking a lawsuit like this to trial is enormously, sometimes prohibitively, expensive for both sides. This one in particular, has been a legal fee fiesta for almost four years with numerous complex issues litigated in multiple venues both federal and state. I wouldn’t be surprised if at the end of this trial the costs were roughly $3 million. Each. That includes pricey experts travel and overpriced (but seemingly excellent) attorneys. And that is before any possible appeal.


[...]


So why would Hogan reject what must have been multi-million dollar offers? Please don’t suggest that Hulk Hogan felt the privacy and legal issues involved were too significant to avoid a public trial. Please. Don’t.

More importantly, what happens if Hogan loses? Who pays his side’s enormous fees? I have reached out to his team three times for comment on this issue and have not received a response.

But there are three options:

1) He foots the bill.

This is beyond unlikely since he has publicly discussed his various financial woes including that his wife won 70% of the assets that remained in 2011, leaving him with about $3 million in cash. Since then, he was fired by the WWE after a racist rant from 2007 emerged. This is not to suggest he is a pauper, but it is nearly impossible to believe he has the money needed to fund a case like this one.

2) His attorneys are covering all of the costs as part of a contingency fee agreement. In that case, they would take all the financial risk in exchange for a large percentage (typically 33 to 50%) of the judgment. But this too doesn’t explain how this case moved forward to trial. Not only has Gawker won many of the legal battles, but the Florida Appeals Court has expressed some sympathy for Gawker’s legal position. So even if Hogan wins a big verdict, which he very well may from the jury, most legal experts agree that the appeals court would at the least, reduce it significantly as they do in many cases involving media defendants.

Sure, its an interesting, high profile case, but Hogan’s attorneys have to know it’s a huge, almost reckless, financial risk to bet everything on the amount that they will take home in this case. Which brings me to the third and maybe most tantalizing possibility. . .

3) Gawker has long been one of the most detested and despised media entities in the country. Particularly by the rich and powerful. So what if someone was encouraging Hogan and his attorneys not to settle. What if said person wanted to see Gawker suffer even at significant cost to him/her? We received a tip that certain Tampa lawyers believe a benefactor agreed to cover Hogan’s legal fees in some capacity. I have no idea if it’s true but it sure would explain a lot of the seemingly inexplicable in this already bizarre case. Regardless, listening to Hogan testify served as a reminder of why juries have never experienced the pleasure of hearing sizzling details in any of the other steamy cases.​
 
W

Wereroku

Member
So there is a chance that this is being funded by someone that Gawker fucked with in the past? That would be insane if it was true.
 
ElRenoRaven

ElRenoRaven

Member
Pwinsider has a good explination of what will happen. I'll link but post it too since their site is so ad filled it isn't funny.

pwinsider write up

Dan C., who is a lawyer in California, sent this excellent assessment of where Hulk Hogan's judgment from Gawker stands.

***

I heard you and Stu discussing the Hogan/Gawker case and the issue of the appeal bond. Here's the 411. Feel free to use it on the site:

An appellate bond is required to be posted by the losing party at trial to provide security to the winning party in the event that the decision is affirmed on appeal. It's objective is to ensure that the losing party does not use an appeal to delay payment of the Judgment while at the same time spending, hiding, or otherwise wasting its assets which should be available to satisfy the Judgment. Because of the one to two year period of the appellate process, most states require the appellate bond to be for 125% or 150% of the Judgment award to account for costs, fees, and post-Judgment interest [in California that interest accrues at 10% per year; in the Federal Courts it's a variable rate which I think is currently +/- 7%; I don't know about Florida].

Appellate bonds are issued by surety companies, which basically are insurance companies. Effectively, the surety company posts a bond with the Court which says to the winning party at trial "if you win on appeal we'll guarantee [hence the term "surety"] that your Judgment is paid." It's just like an insurance policy that says if your house burns down we'll rebuild it.

Here's the difficulty Gawker will have: Surety Bonds are fully secured, meaning that the surety company or insurance company requires the losing defendant to post cash, securities, real estate, or other liquid assets to secure the bond. And most surety companies require the security for the bond to be 150% of the bond amount to account for valuation fluctuations in the security during the appellate process. And, the surety companies usually charge a 10% premium for the bond, although in large bonds like this one the premium is often negotiable to a lower percentage.

So, what does that mean for Gawker: Florida apparently has a $50M limit or cap on appellate bonds. Thus, Gawker would have to post $75M in cash, securities, real estate, or other liquid assets to secure the appellate bond, and pay a premium in the area of $5M for the cost of the bond. Since I read that Gawker's total 2014 revenues were only +/- $47M, and its 2014 EBIDA was only +/- $6.7m, it's unlikely that Gawker would have either the assets to post as security or the cash to pay the premium. So an appellate bond is likely out of the question. One other question that no one has discussed: did Gawker have any type of insurance coverage that might provide either defense costs and/or indemnity to Gawker? Most business CGL policies cover defamation and business disparagement type claims. So, it's possible that an insurance company has been paying Gawker's lawyers to defend the case, and would also fund the appeal. If that's the case, there's a chance that the insurer would fund the appellate bond.

That's not necessarily the end of the appeal though. First, Gawker can and almost certainly will ask the trial court for a stay of enforcement pending appeal. If the trial court says "No," and based on the Judge's prior rulings that seems likely, Gawker could petition the appellate court for a stay, or a writ of supercedeas, because it financially can't afford the bond and the appeal raises issues of great public importance, i.e., free speech. To date, Gawker has had much better luck with the Florida Court of Appeals, and there's a good chance the appellate court might grant that relief.

Second, even if both courts deny the stay/supercedeas requests, Gawker can still appeal. It just means Hogan and his attorneys can execute on the Judgment by levying on Gawker's assets and/or inserting a receiver to seize Gawker's receivables while the appeal proceeds. Not a good option for Gawker, but it might be Gawker's only option to vindicate it's name. Or, Gawker could file a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and allow a Bankruptcy Trustee to collect and manage its assets and income while Gawker reorganizes and restructures itself to deal with the Judgment. My best guess is that Gawker has little in the way of "hard assets" [probably like PWI doesn't, some computer equipment and software are the only physical assets necessary to run an online news site] so the bankruptcy would allow Gawker to stay in business while prosecuting its appeal.

Finally, there's a big issue to consider before we even get to the appeal stage. There will be a motion for new trial by Gawker on many grounds, not the least of which will be excessive damages [a similar motion will be coming in the Erin Andrews case where the damages were also astronomical, and totally disproportionate to the harm suffered]. These post-trial motions are routine, and in high dollar cases generally result in the damages being reduced to a sane amount. The public just doesn't hear about them very often because the reduction in damages just isn't as sexy or flashy as the 9-figure awards, so they're on page 10 while the outrageous Judgments are at the top of page 1. I'd guess that in both the Hogan and Andrews cases the damages are substantially reduced to the single-digit millions, as opposed to tens of millions, of dollars. There's just no rational explanation that a single person can sustain "emotional distress" worth $50M, that's mind-blowing, especially when both Plaintiffs did not suffer any physical injuries. I just don't see how a trial or appellate court allows either of these damages awards to stand.
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J

jorma

is now taking requests
Wereroku said:
So there is a chance that this is being funded by someone that Gawker fucked with in the past? That would be insane if it was true.
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If it turned out to be that company the blackmailed and outed gay dude worked for, well that would be so awesome.
 
Christopher

Christopher

Member
Where did our country go in the direction of handing out outrageous amounts of damages to plantives...$115 million dollars come on now...
 
P

Patryn

Member
So after the judge apparently informs the jury that punitive amounts cannot financially destroy or bankrupt, and Gawker informs the jury that the penalties already incurred exceed the value of Gawker and A.J. Daulerio already has a negative net worth due to student loans, we get this question:

Jurors ask if they can award community service to the defendants instead of punitive damages. Are told no. #hulkvsgawk
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That seems like a question directed at Daulerio's situation. They want to punish, but there's no $ to take. #hulkvsgawk
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That jury really, really, REALLY didn't like Daulerio. Understandably.
 
B

BronsonLee

Member
Christopher said:
Where did our country go in the direction of handing out outrageous amounts of damages to plantives...$115 million dollars come on now...
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Here's what happened with that

Plaintiff asked for an astronomical amount
Court was always very favorable to Plaintiff
Defense put up the worst possible defense in the world

Edit: Oh my god did they really want to give Daulerio community service?!
 
K

Kaladin

Member
Patryn said:
So after the judge apparently informs the jury that punitive amounts cannot financially destroy or bankrupt, and Gawker informs the jury that the penalties already incurred exceed the value of Gawker and A.J. Daulerio already has a negative net worth due to student loans, we get this question:



That jury really, really, REALLY didn't like Daulerio. Understandably.
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115 million hours of community service.

Muahahahahahaha.
 
T

thefro

Member
ICqtzzY.jpg


Botchedspot on point as usual
 
B

bjork

Member
funkystudent said:
30 million isnt 115 million but it aint bad.


I wonder how much money Hogan had at his peak and how this compares.
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Going around the world for years and dealing with Vince and all of that, versus someone seeing your wiener in a video? Even if it's a fraction of his peak money, it's worth it for the lack of work involved.
 
S

Sir_Crocodile

Member
CDX said:
3) Gawker has long been one of the most detested and despised media entities in the country. Particularly by the rich and powerful. So what if someone was encouraging Hogan and his attorneys not to settle. What if said person wanted to see Gawker suffer even at significant cost to him/her? We received a tip that certain Tampa lawyers believe a benefactor agreed to cover Hogan’s legal fees in some capacity. I have no idea if it’s true but it sure would explain a lot of the seemingly inexplicable in this already bizarre case. Regardless, listening to Hogan testify served as a reminder of why juries have never experienced the pleasure of hearing sizzling details in any of the other steamy cases.[/I][/INDENT]
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Someone had jealous eyes

hbkdx12 said:
Maybe he can buy his way back into the wwe

Retcon the retcon, brother!
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The Consortium was hulk all along ????

Patryn said:
So after the judge apparently informs the jury that punitive amounts cannot financially destroy or bankrupt, and Gawker informs the jury that the penalties already incurred exceed the value of Gawker and A.J. Daulerio already has a negative net worth due to student loans, we get this question:

That jury really, really, REALLY didn't like Daulerio. Understandably.
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Incredible. They're all "how can we do the most damage to this slimeball".
 
F

FStop7

Banned
Wereroku said:
So there is a chance that this is being funded by someone that Gawker fucked with in the past? That would be insane if it was true.
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Gawker fucked with the CFO of Conde Nast, who also happens to be the brother of Tim Geithner. Geithner was Obama's Secretary of the Treasury from 2009 to 2013 as well as the former President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

It was only a matter of time. If not the Hogan suit then something else. Gawker fucked with some very, very, very powerful and influential people with powerful and influential friends.

They could pull off a miracle and win an appeal, but it'll just be another matter of time until it happens again.
 
J

j_k_redtail

Member
Patryn said:
So after the judge apparently informs the jury that punitive amounts cannot financially destroy or bankrupt, and Gawker informs the jury that the penalties already incurred exceed the value of Gawker and A.J. Daulerio already has a negative net worth due to student loans, we get this question:





That jury really, really, REALLY didn't like Daulerio. Understandably.
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Great jury or greatest jury?
 
F

Faddy

Banned
PsychoRaven said:
Pwinsider has a good explination of what will happen. I'll link but post it too since their site is so ad filled it isn't funny.

pwinsider write up
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I want to comment on this part

Most business CGL policies cover defamation and business disparagement type claims. So, it's possible that an insurance company has been paying Gawker's lawyers to defend the case, and would also fund the appeal. If that's the case, there's a chance that the insurer would fund the appellate bond.
Click to expand...

Gawker got sued by their own insurance company who said they were not liable for their defence costs, that was settled out of court. They also had a second insurance with an Errors and Omissions policy who may cover them.

So their insurance is up in the air and unlikely to cover such a large amount given the value of Gawker Media.
 
B

Brakke

Banned
FStop7 said:
Gawker fucked with the CFO of Conde Nast, who also happens to be the brother of Tim Geithner. Geithner was Obama's Secretary of the Treasury from 2009 to 2013 as well as the former President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

It was only a matter of time. If not the Hogan suit then something else. Gawker fucked with some very, very, very powerful and influential people with powerful and influential friends.

They could pull off a miracle and win an appeal, but it'll just be another matter of time until it happens again.
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You can't introduce brothers in one sentence and then just use the last name in the second sentence.
 
C

CDX

Member
wanderingprostheyltite said:
@annamphillips:

The jury orders Gawker Media to pay Hulk Hogan $15m in punitive damages #hulkvsgawk
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The jury orders Nick Denton to pay Hulk Hogan $10m. For AJ Daulerio: $100k #hulkvsgawk
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The judge orders the Hulk Hogan sex tape sealed. #hulkvsgawk
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So what does the tape being sealed mean for the appeal?
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So $115 Million in economic and emotional damages and now we add on to that $25 Million in punitive damages.

So $140 Million total.
 
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