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Gawker Files For Bankruptcy After Hulk Hogan Lawsuit (usatoday.com)

Posted by msmash on from the house-of-cards dept.

Gawker has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The move comes after the media house was ordered to pay up $140M to Hulk Hogan for publishing his sex tape. Gawker, which is known for its irreverent voice, is currently facing multiple lawsuits, backed by billionaire Peter Thiel, one of the people that Gawker has extensively reported on. USA Today reports: In its filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, Gawker is seeking to reorganize under the bankruptcy protection and there's no indication, as of yet, that it will cease publication. Gawker listed estimated assets of $50 million to $100 million and liabilities of $100 million to $500 million. [...] Thiel's funding triggered concerns about the possibility of First Amendment rights being quashed by wealthy individuals' funding of third-party legal claims against media organizations.According to a separate report, Ziff Davis is interested in purchasing Gawker and various properties that it owns. Gawker media also runs Gizmodo, LifeHacker, and Deadspin among other popular publications.

5 of 284 comments (clear)

  1. Revenge p0rn by fermion · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I don't care one bit about some paparazzi revenge porn site going out of business. Yes, it is troublesome that this may have revenge for some semi valid journalism, but the real blight on the WWW are sites like this that exist to do nothing but make money off celebrity mishaps. It will be good for these parasites to get a real job.

    --
    "She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
    1. Re: Revenge p0rn by jeffasselin · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Gawker is a terrible bottom feeder. But when the next billionaire gets pissed at Slashdot for reporting on how his newfangled techo-marvel is a POS, and forces it into bankruptcy and closure, you might care more.

      This is not about Gawker anymore, this is about a billionaire using his money and influence to destroy someone using the legal system as a proxy.

      --
      If he explores all forms and substances Straight homeward to their symbol-essences; He shall not die.
    2. Re: Revenge p0rn by bws111 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      What a pile of crap. Gawker was destroyed by their own actions. Period. 'The billionaire' did not publish the sex tapes. He did not ignore court orders to take them down. The only thing his money did was allow a wronged person to get redress. I guess in your ideal world a wronged person should have no recourse if he can't afford it on his own.

    3. Re: Revenge p0rn by sumdumass · · Score: 4, Interesting

      What if that was Hogan's intent also and he really doesn't care about the money?

      Anyways, it was gawker's own fault. They published it, they refused to take it down when asked and ordered by a judge. I don't care if Hogan borrowed money or gave head to get the lawyer help, if he didn't have a case, he would not have won.

  2. I had sympathy for Gawker until the trial details by FireballX301 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    At a high level, sure, money shouldn't give you the ability to completely shut down voices you don't like.

    But at the trial, Gawker seemed to both not take the trial seriously (the infamous 4 year old line) and simply treated it like another story they'd post to get clicks. Denton and Daulerio seemed to think they were above the entire fray until the judgment, at which point they turned the entire other way and started trying to rouse sympathy from their readership. They mishandled their own defense to the point of comedy and made the jury entirely unsympathetic. It's hard for me to think they didn't bring this on themselves.

    I hope Deadspin and Jalopnik find new homes, there are some good writers for those two sites.