

“ will also tell you there is still a private side of his life, and that the private side of his life is even more important to him because there are so few places he can feel safe,” continued Vogt. He will sit there on the stand and will own it.”īut the attorney said this can’t excuse Gawker’s decision to traffic materials outside the bounds of human decency in a civilized society. The situation with Heather Clem was one of those mistakes.

Shane Vogt, representing Hogan, admitted his client “has imperfections and flaws,” adding during the plaintiff’s opening statement, “He will be the first one to admit what he did. In the time since Gawker made its notorious post, more revelations about the sex tape have come to light including the fact that Hogan had no idea he was being recorded, an extortion attempt, an FBI investigation and a video where Hogan is shown using the N-word and making racist comments about the boyfriend of his daughter. The tape of Hogan having sex with Heather Clem, the ex-wife of Todd Clem - a radio show jock host known as “Bubba the Love Sponge” and Hogan’s best friend - was several years old by the time that it landed in the hands of Gawker, run by a privacy-adverse newsman by the name of Nick Denton.
#Gawker hulk hogan tape trial trial#
Although the digital site fended off an injunction at an appeals court, Gawker was not able to stop what’s expected to be a weekslong trial that will feature both the strange circumstances of the sex tape at issue as well as how digital sites like Gawker accumulate readership from sensational stories. Daulerio that muses about how “we love to watch famous people have sex.”įor nearly three-and-a-half years, Gawker has attempted to preclude the spectacle that’s now unfolding in Pinellas Country, Florida, by raising a First Amendment flag. 2012 to post a short excerpt of a 30-minute sex tape alongside an essay by A.J.
#Gawker hulk hogan tape trial professional#
Hulk Hogan (born Terry Bollea), a professional wrestler known back in the day as “a real American hero,” is pursuing a substantial amount of damages for Gawker’s decision in Oct.
