Former WWE wrestler Hulk Hogan is looking at a big pay day for his sex tape lawsuit against Gawker Media for their unlawful posting of his extracurricular activities on their website. The outlet got their hands on a sex tape starring Hogan from 2007, where he and an estranged friend’s wife were caught on camera having sexual relations. The trial began earlier this month, after Hogan filed the lawsuit citing that the release of the one-minute and 50-second video was an invasion of privacy. According to reports, the judge has ruled in Hogan’s favor.
On Friday [March 18], just two weeks after the trial for Hogan’s sex tap lawsuit against Gawker got underway, the jury ruled the media outlet was indeed guilty of violating Hogan’s privacy and did so maliciously. Hogan and team originally sued the outlet for a whopping $100 million, however, on Friday the judge ruled the wrestling star would receive $115 million in compensatory damages. That’s not all.
According to TMZ, the jury decides next week just how much Gawker will pay for punitive damages, which is meant to punish the defendant for intentional wrongdoing and could be as much as two to three times the amount of the $115 million compensatory damages he is already being awarded. When everything is said and done, Hogan could end up receiving up to $460 million dollars in damages. #Winning. Gawker is already putting plans in place to appeal the ruling.
