Hulk Hogan will be receiving at least $31 million to settle his privacy case against Gawker, after the media company published his sex tape, according to court documents.

This feud between Gawker, its founder, Nick Denton, and Terry Bollea–Hogan’s real name–has been going on since the $100 million defamation case was filed in 2012.

The privacy in question pertained to a sex tape of Hogan and Heather Cole, who was the wife of Hogan’s best friend Bubba “the Love Sponge” Clem at the time, that Gawker featured on its website. While it did not play the entire video, it played over a minute and a half chunk of it, while other news sites only showed stills and discussed the video.

Gawker named the story, in its usual gossipy way, “Even for a Minute, Watching Hulk Hogan Have Sex in a Canopy Bed is Not Safe For Work but Watch it Anyway.” The story not only included part of the video, but offered a graphic play-by-play of the sex tape for those who didn’t want to watch. Hogan claimed that he was secretly filmed.

The subsequent case forced Gawker to file for bankruptcy after a jury awarded Hogan $140 million in March. Peter Thiel, Silicon Valley billionaire, was secretly funding Hogan’s case against Gawker.

Thiel explained in a New York Times article in August why he funded Hogan’s case:

In 2007, I was outed by the online gossip blog Gawker. It wasn’t so many years ago, but it was a different time: Gay men had to navigate a world that wasn’t always welcoming, and often faced difficult choices about how to live safely and with dignity. In my case, Gawker decided to make those choices for me. I had begun coming out to people I knew, and I planned to continue on my own terms. Instead, Gawker violated my privacy and cashed in on it.

Denton broke the news on his blog, with a piece titled “A hard peace,” where he wrote, “After four years of litigation funded by a billionaire with a grudge going back even further, a settlement has been reached. The saga is over.”

He then goes on to discuss how “three true stories” are going to be taken down.

Denton said he was confident that the appeals would overturn the original judgement.

“I will continue to work on topic forums, still convinced that the internet can bring people together in shared understanding rather than just triggering conflict between them,” Denton wrote. “Hulk Hogan’s retirement will be comfortable.”

In August, Univision acquired Gawker Media for $135 million. While Gawker itself has since been shut down, websites like Gizmodo, Jalopnik, Jezebel, Deadspin, Lifehacker, and Kotaku still publish content.

Julia Bryant

Julia Bryant is an Editorial Senior Fellow at Law Street from Howard County, Maryland. She is a junior at the University of Maryland, College Park, pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Economics. You can contact Julia at JBryant@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Gawker to Pay Hulk Hogan $31 Million in Settlement appeared first on Law Street.

A legal feud between Hulk Hogan and the Gawker media empire is  finally making its way to court. Hogan filed a $100 million defamation suit against Gawker back in 2012 after the site published a minute and 41-second long chunk of the sex tape. That suit is now making its way to trial–jury selection just began in St. Petersburg, Florida.

The sex tape featured Hogan–whose legal name is actually Terry Bollea–and Heather Cole, who at the time was the wife of radio personality Bubba the Love Sponge Clem. The fact that Clem and Hogan used to be good friends put a whole new twisted spin on the entire thing. The existence of the tape was actually not a secret, given that multiple news sites referenced it and some published stills from it. But Gawker, which received the video anonymously in 2012, was the first to actually publish a segment of it. The article was entitled, with true Gawker panache “Even for a Minute, Watching Hulk Hogan Have Sex in a Canopy Bed Is Not Safe for Work but Watch It Anyway.”

Hogan is claiming that his privacy was violated because of the sex tape leak, is suing the media company for defamation, and accused Gawker’s lawyers of releasing confidential comments from the video to the media. While the idea that the most salacious part of a sex video could be the things said on it sounds kind of insane, it’s not–the comments released were racist remarks about his daughter Brooke Hogan dating a black man. The ensuing backlash eventually led to WWE severing ties with one of its biggest stars. Hogan’s lawyers called Gawker’s actions “outrageous, irresponsible, and despicable.”

Gawker’s response has been mostly focused on First Amendment rights, and the media company says that because Hogan has been open about his sex life in the past, the video was fair game. Gawker founder Nick Denton said last summer: “I care about the readers having the right to know both sides of a story. Readers should also have the right to get the story behind the celebrity story.”

Essentially, this entire case boils down to questions about how much privacy celebrities can expect–especially in the age of the internet and easily-shareable recordings. A jury in St. Petersburg will have to decide the answer to those questions soon.

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Hulk Hogan and Gawker go to Court Over Leaked Sex Tape appeared first on Law Street.

Jennifer Lopez is currently locked in a pretty nasty legal battle with her first ex-husband, Ojani Noa. Noa, who was married to the actress and singer for eleven months in 1997-1998, is in possession of a number of salacious home videos featuring J-Lo. He wants to release them, but she doesn’t want them to see the light of day. Now, they’re stuck in a seemingly interminable legal battle over the issue.

J-Lo’s people have been fighting the release of the tapes for approximately six years now. According to Noa, they contain personal incidences like J-Lo arguing with her mother over gambling. But what appears to have garnered the most attention is the fact that Noa is claiming that he’s in possession of a sex tape of the two of them from their honeymoon. Noa’s business partner Ed Meyer told In Touch:

There is revealing video of her with a lack of clothing and in sexual situations, especially in the hotel footage from the honeymoon.

While J-Lo’s team has been fighting Noa’s team in court for six years, the videos have been kept closed under court order. But J-Lo’s lawyers recently withdrew from the case during arbitration. According to Meyer, that resulted in a loophole that will allow them to release the videos. But Noa and Meyer don’t plan on just releasing the videos, they also plan on profiting from them. Meyer has said: “We are going to produce a DVD and also have a streaming release of the J.Lo home video footage.” It’s seemingly not just about the money, though. Meyer has implied that the attempted release of the videos are in some way vindictive and personal, stating: “The videos contain salacious material and are going to shock her fans. We have unfinished business.”

While the release of celebrity sex tapes, or celebrity nude pictures, have become sadly the norm, the threatened release of J-Lo’s sex tape, as well as other aspects of her private life are still horrifying. While Lopez’s marriage to Noa clearly didn’t have a happy ending, that does not entitle him, or his business partner, to exploit her private life and shame her for her sex life with Noa. Regardless of Meyer and Noa’s plans, Lopez’s team will probably continue to attempt to block the release of the video–we’ll see if they’re ultimately successful.

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post J-Lo vs. Her Ex-Husband: Former Couple in Court Over Sex Tape appeared first on Law Street.