Top wrestler Hulk Hogan has been awarded $115 million (£79million)
in damages after a jury found that Gawker had violated his privacy by
publishing a sex tape wrestler.
The wrestling legend was seeking $100 million damages from the
website after it posted a clip of him having sex with Heather Clem - the now
ex-wife of his former friend
Lawyers for the website argued that the concept of freedom of the
press was more important to uphold, even if the jury found the action
distasteful, while his lawyers argued the video was not newsworthy and violated
his privacy.
The wrestler's lawyers also said the website didn't contact him or
Clem before they published the story.
Hogan - real name Terry Bollea - had to take to the stand and give
evidence at a court in St. Petersburg, Florida, this week, divulge private
details about his s3x life and the case has put strain on his relationship with
his wife.
Last year, his contract with WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment)
was terminated after a transcript from the s3x tape recording - which was
secretly made in 2007 when the wrestler was suffering from depression in the
wake of his wife Linda Hogan filing for divorce was leaked revealing him using
the N-word during a conversation about his daughter Brooke Hogan's then- boyfriend.
WWE, the company which he helped to turn into a global
entertainment brand, cut all ties with him, even removing mentions of him from
their official website.
Hogan previously said he hasn't felt like himself since his s3x
tape was posted online.
He said: "I just haven’t felt like myself... this is still
tearing me up. I haven’t been able to get back up to who I was before [the
tape]... I’m not the same person I was since all this craziness happened."
The 62-year-old also recently hit back at rumours he had leaked
the tape himself, insisting he was offered money by Vivid Entertainment, a
pornographic film production company, for the video but refused.
He added: "It wasn’t about Hulk Hogan making a sex tape.
That’s not what happened. It’s never been about that ... We had calls from
Vivid Entertainment ... and they said, ‘There’s an open checkbook, we’ll pay
you anything you want ...” he disclosed.
