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Hulk Hogan & Peter Thiel Tag-Team Body Slam Gawker Into Bankruptcy

June 10, 2016

  •  The Hollywood Reporter has reported that media giant Gawker has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Though Gawker has been going up in flames for almost a year now, this filing comes in the wake of the $140 million judgment made against them by a Florida court in favor of Hulk Hogan.  In case you haven’t been following this story, here’s a recap. Back in 2012, Gawker posted a leaked sex tape featuring Terry “Hulk Hogan” Bollea making racist remarks. He petitioned them to take it down on privacy grounds. They didn’t. So he sued — and won, to the tune of $140 million.  The story took on a new wrinkle when Forbes revealed that PayPal founder, early Facebook investor, and eccentric Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel has been secretly bankrolling lawsuits against Gawker — including the Hulk Hogan lawsuit, at around $10 million — for years. According to a Forbes follow-up story, Thiel has waged a personal war against Gawker Media since at least 2007, when Gawker attempted to out him as gay before he made his sexuality public.  Gawker’s legal troubles have inspired outrage from free speech advocates in Silicon Valley, including Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and eBay founder PIerre Omidyar.  People have taken to Twitter to voice their support for both Gawker and Hogan:

  •  Thrilled to live in this new world where billionaires can bankrupt publications out of nothing more than pique. https://t.co/bK8JXQgVvB — Jamelle Bouie (@jbouie) June 10, 2016  “>   

  • Source: twitter.com / Via: twitter.com

  • Source: twitter.com / Via: twitter.com

  • Source: twitter.com / Via: twitter.com

  • Source: twitter.com / Via: twitter.com

  •  What do you think? Does Gawker deserve to go bankrupt over their misdeeds, or are you troubled that a billionaire can shut down a major publication? Let us know in the comments below or @WhatsTrending on Twitter.