Hashtag no regrets. Gawker founder Nick Denton revealed in an interview with Good Morning America on Thursday, March 24, that he feels no remorse for posting the Hulk Hogan sex tape snippet in 2012 that landed his media company in hot water.
The 49-year-old journalist recently lost a $140 million legal case against Hogan (born Terry Bollea), but he insists he wouldn’t have done anything differently.
“No, you know what, I don’t,” he replied when asked if he had any remorse for making the editorial call to share parts of the private video. “We didn’t post the sex tape. We posted nine seconds of sexual activity in an excerpt of a much, much longer tape. It was in the context of a story. The story has been found newsworthy by a federal judge, the appeals court on repeated occasions. I believe it was newsworthy. Those judges agreed it was newsworthy and so it is a story we would do again.”
On Friday, March 18, a Florida jury awarded Hogan, 62, $115 million in compensatory damages; three days later, they added another $25 million in punitive damages.
But, Denton told GMA, the jury was not fully informed when they made their decision — arguing that he believes Hogan possibly knew he was being taped at the time that he had sex with the wife of Bubba “The Love Sponge” Clem, Heather Clem. Hence, the Gawker founder explained, he is appealing the decision.
Bubba “said that Hogan knew that there were cameras in the house. He knew he was being taped,” Denton said of an interview Bubba had previously given the FBI. “They were best friends. They knew everything about each other’s lives. I just don’t think it’s credible for Hulk Hogan to pretend that he had no idea of what was going on.”
(That same day, Denton told Us in a statement that he felt that “key evidence and the most important witness were both improperly withheld from this jury.”)
On Tuesday, the pro wrestler sat down to tell GMA his thoughts on the three-year process that finally led to his winning the trial.
Gawker “was hoping that, financially, I wouldn’t be able to stay in the game with them, and I’d quit or tap out or something,” Hogan told GMA reporter Linzie Janis. “I felt like I had this monster on my shoulders no matter where I went.”
“We’re exceptionally happy with the verdict,” Hogan’s legal team told Us Weekly in a statement. “We think it represents a statement as to the public’s disgust with the invasion of privacy disguised as journalism. The verdict says no more.”
