Hulk Hogan's Sex Tape Scandal

About

Hulk Hogan’s Sex Tape Scandal refers to a sexually explicit video in which former professional wrestler Terry Gene Bollea, better known by his stage name Hulk Hogan, is shown engaging in sexual intercourse with Heather Clem, the wife of radio personality Todd Clem. Clips of the video were widely circulated online throughout 2012, which lead Bollea to file lawsuits against both the Clems and Gawker Media for violating his privacy. Many have speculated the lawsuit against Gawker could potentially bankrupt the company, as well as set important legal precedents in regards to privacy rights and freedom of the press.

Background

In April 2012, a 30-minute sexually explicit video in which Hogan and Clem engage in sexual intercourse began circulating online. In the video, radio host Todd Alan Clem (a.k.a. Bubba the Love Sponge) can be heard telling his wife Heather “If we ever need to retire, here is our ticket,” prior to Bollea entering the room. On October 4th, Gawker^[7] released a one-minute clip from the video titled “Even for a Minute, Watching Hulk Hogan Have Sex in a Canopy Bed is Not Safe For Work but Watch it Anyway.”

Notable Developments

Howard Stern Appearance

That month, Bollea was interviewed on the Howard Stern radio show about the tape, claiming he was covertly filmed without his consent (shown below).

Lawsuit Against the Clems

Also in October 2012, Bollea filed a lawsuit against the Clems for invading his privacy by filming him without his consent. On October 29th, a settlement was reached and Todd Clem issued a public apology to Bollea on his radio show.

“I am now convinced that Hulk Hogan was unaware of the presence of the recording device in my bedroom. I am convinced [Hulk Hogan] had no knowledge that he was being taped…It is my belief that Hulk is not involved, and has not ever been involved, in trying to release the video, or exploit it, or otherwise gain from the video’s release in any way.”

Lawsuit Against Gawker

On April 24th, 2013, Hogan sued Gawker for the post, and demanded they take the tape down. The site initially refused, citing their first amendment rights as journalists in the public interest, but a judge later required them to remove it.^[8] On October 21st, 2014, Redditor Alexxm posted an image juxtaposing Gawker headlines about the Bollea sex tape with headlines criticizing “The Fappening” iCloud leaks, accusing the online tabloid of hypocrisy (shown below). Prior to being archived, the post gained over 5,600 votes (94% upvoted) and 690 comments on the /r/TumblrInAction^[1] subreddit.

On July 6th, 2015, a civil trial against Gawker Media convened in Florida, in which Bollea is seeking $100 million in damages for violating his privacy, personality rights and intentionally inflicting emotional distress for publishing the sex tape. On July 24th, 2015, the National Enquirer^[3] and Radar Online^[4] published transcripts of Bollea’s statements heard in the background audio of the sex tape:

“I mean, I don’t have double standards. I mean, I am a racist, to a point, f*cking n*ggers. But then when it comes to nice people and sh*t, and whatever."

“I mean, I’d rather if she was going to f*ck some n*gger, I’d rather have her marry an 8-foot-tall n*gger worth a hundred million dollars! Like a basketball player!”

On July 29th, Bollea filed a motion accusing Gawker of leaking the tape audio to compromise the lawsuit against them.^[5] In October, a judge granted Bollea access to Gawker’s computer system to allow a forensic expert to search for evidence that the company leaked a recording of Hogan to the National Enquirer. On March 5th, 2016, The New York Times^[2] published an article about the lawsuit, noting that it may set important legal precedents in regards to privacy rights and freedom of the press. On March 7th, Bollea appeared on the stand at the trial, where he claimed he was “in character” when questioned about the Howard Stern appearance, and that he was “completely humiliated” by Gawker publishing the video

On March 9th, former Gawker editor Albert J. Daulerio was questioned as a defendant in the case. When asked if he could “image a situation where a celebrity sex tape would not be newsworthy,” Daulerio responded “if they were a child” under the age of “four.” That day, Gawker claimed Daulerio was being “flippant” in the statement.^[6] On March 14th, YouTuber Court Chatter View uploaded footage of Daulerio being questioned about the remark (shown below). On the following day, Redditor The-Wing submitted the video to /r/videos. Within 24 hours, the video received upwards of 1.08 million views and the Reddit post gathered more than 8,500 votes (83% upvoted).

Verdict

On March 18th, 2016, a verdict was delivered awarding Hogan $55 million in compensatory damages and $60 million for emotional distress. By the end of the month, the six-person jury will decide if additional punitive damages will be awarded. Following the delivery of the verdict, Gawker CEO Nick Denton announced plans to appeal the decision, claiming that “key evidence and the most important witness were both improperly withheld” from the jury.^[11] That day, the tech news site Ars Technica published an article titled “$115 Million Verdict in Hulk Hogan Sex-Tape Lawsuit Could Wipe Out Gawker.” In the coming days, several posts about the verdict reached the frontpage of the various subreddits, including /r/news,^[13][18] /r/technology,^[14] /r/squaredcircle,^[15] /r/KotakuInAction/,^[16] /r/The_Donald/,^[17] some of which celebrated Hogan’s victory in the case (shown below).

Peter Thiel’s Funding

On May 23rd, 2016, The New York Times^[19] published an article titled “Gawker Founder Suspects a Common Financer Behind Lawsuits,” reporting that Nick Denton suspected someone in Silicon Valley was financing various lawsuits against the media company, including Bollea’s defamation lawsuit. The following day, Forbes^[20] published an article titled “This Silicon Valley Billionaire Has Been Secretely Funding Hulk Hogan’s Lawsuits Against Gawker,” which named PayPal cofounder Peter Thiel, whom Gawker outed as a homosexual in 2007, as the secret financier. On May 25th, The New York Times^[21] published an interview with Thiel, in which he admitted to financing the lawsuit against Gawker. That day, several posts about the news reached the front page the /r/news,^[22] /r/ProRevenge^[23] and /r/KotakuInAction^[24] subreddits. On Twitter, many claimed Thiel’s funding of the trial was a threat to freedom of the press, while others mocked the arguments as sanctimonious.

Settlement

On November 2nd, 2016, months after Gawker had closed due to bankruptcy as the result of the case, Hogan and Gawker reached a settlement in which Gawker would pay Hogan $31 million dollars after the judge awarded Hogan $140 million in damages after the case.^[28] The stories about Hogan were also removed from the site.

Gawker’s Sale Rumors

On May 26th, the New York Post reported that Nick Denton had “begun quietly soliciting bids for the sale of his company” in the wake of the verdict. That day, several other news sites reported on the story, including the Wall Street Journal,^[25]CNBC^[26] and Business Insider.^[27]

Search Interest

External References