Hulk Hogan Sex Tape Lawsuit Going To Trial Next Month, Gawker Founder Comments On The Case

The last time we discussed Hulk Hogan's lawsuit against Gawker, it was with regards to Gawker suing the FBI for records they deem essential to their defense. Today, Capital New York has an extensive article on the original Hogan lawsuit, which is going to a jury trial on July 6th in St. Petersburg, Florida. The New York Times also has its own article about Gawker founder Nick Denton that touches on the lawsuit a bit.

For those unaware of the case, Gawker was anonymously leaked a recording of Hogan having sex with Heather Clem, the ex-wife of Todd "Bubba the Love Sponge" Clem (though they were married at the time the video was made). On October 4, 2012, then-editor A.J. Daulerio posted an article about the tape that was accompanied by a short "highlight reel" of the video, which appeared to have been shot by a security camera. At the beginning of the clip, a man who sounds like Todd Clem tells them to "do your thing" while he's in his office. Hogan quickly got the video taken down, and the case since then has been about whether or not his privacy was invaded.

Both articles are worth reading (especially the Capital New York article if you're interested in the case), but here are some of the more interesting things revealed within:

* Gawker's argument is largely rooted in Hogan making his sex life a matter of public interest via things like his appearances on The Howard Stern Show where he went into pretty graphic detail. Hogan's side concedes that he had made his sex life a matter of public interest, but argues that the tape itself wasn't.

* Denton argues that there's a distinction between the Hogan video and something like the Jennifer Lawrence nude photo leak, where he didn't publish the source materials: "When the Jennifer Lawrence photographs were leaked, was that true that it was her? I think she confirmed it, so yes it was true. [...] Was it interesting? Was there any lie being exposed there? ... That wouldn't satisfy, to my mind, the test of being both true and interesting."

* Denton cites Hogan lying about if he'd ever sleep with Heather Clem as a lie that the video debunked, making it an item of legitimate interest worthy of being published on Gawker: "The story was a real sober take on a version of events that [Hogan] had been talking about. If you don't defend that, then what do you defend? You might as well just take the First Amendment and tear it up."

* If the jury were to rule in Hogan's favor and award a judgment in the range of the $100 million he's asking for, it would force Gawker out of business or require Denton to sell to a much larger company. Florida law requires that if a party was to appeal a monetary judgment, they would have to post a bond that equals the full amount plus two years' worth of interest.