Things are heating up in Hulk Hogan’s $100 million lawsuit against the website Gawker. Hogan, real name Terry Bollea, claims that he felt betrayed by former friend and DJ/radio personality Bubba the Love Sponge. Bubba, who filmed Hogan engaging in sex with his wife without his knowledge. Gawker later released the tape publicly, sparking a legal battle.
“This is an incredible invasion of Mr. Bollea’s privacy, the video was taken without his knowledge and consent,” said David Houston, Hogan’s lawyer.
Hogan stated that the leaked tape has damaged his personal life and professional career. The tape's release also comes at a time when he is reeling from the release of a private phone call containing various racial slurs. The recent controversy surrounding Hogan caused WWE to wipe the former pro-wrestler from their Hall of Fame.
“I was at the lowest point of my life, to the point where I wanted to kill myself,” Hogan stated in an August 2015 interview.
A Gawker representative responded to Hogan’s claims that the release of his sex tape violated his First Amending Rights, saying that he publicly acknowledged his sex life throughout his career. The website also stated that it made no money from the video since it did not run ads when they posted it.
"It takes some nerve to come to court seeking $100 million and then say that Gawker, who made no money from this story, is the greedy one. Hulk Hogan decided years ago that promoting his celebrity by talking endlessly about his sex life – in autobiographies, on TV, on Howard Stern's radio show in graphic detail – was more important than his privacy. So it takes a special kind of nerve to demand $100 million by claiming the very privacy he purposefully abandoned somehow entitles him to a payout," the Gawker rep said.
Hogan has compared his case to that of sportscaster Erin Andrews. A stalker filmed a nude Andrews without her consent. Charles Harder, Hogan’s lawyer, claimed during an interview with CNN Money last month that the cases were similar, yet Hogan faced much more public backlash.
“What’s interesting is that I get this sense that the public and media are so in favor of Erin Andrews, but for some reason, Hulk Hogan gets treated a different way," Harder said.
Judge Pamela Campbell later announced that Hogan’s legal team will not be able to include Andrews’ case in their defense. This decision was made after a mostly female jury was selected for Hogan’s case.
