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[UPDATE] Hulk Hogan Sues Gawker For $100 Million For Sex Tape
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Oct 16, 2012
Modified Oct 16, 2012
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By
Christopher Robbins
Published Oct 16, 2012
Modified Oct 16, 2012
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[UPDATE: Comments from Gawker's attorney below] Terry Bollea is suing Gawker for $100 million for publishing a one-minute excerpt of a 30-minute sex tape in which he stars. You might know Bollea by his porn wrestling nom de guerre, Hulk Hogan. "Mr. Hogan had a reasonable expectation of his privacy, just as all Americans have a reasonable expectation of their privacy in their bedrooms," Hogan's attorney told the AP. What's even more heartbreaking is that he's also suing the woman he had sex with, Heather Clem, and her husband, his former best friend *takes deep breath before typing* Bubba The Love Sponge Clem.
The suit says the tape was surreptitiously recorded six years ago, and claims that Hogan suffered "severe and irreparable damage injury which cannot be adequately compensated by monetary damages" after the video was posted. Hogan allegedly had sex with Heather Clem while he was still married to his wife (they have since divorced) and Heather and Bubba have also divorced. An email to Gawker hasn't been returned.
An attorney for Bubba says that Hogan is the godfather to his client's child, and was the best man at his wedding. "My hope is that these two can preserve their friendship," the lawyer said, as Cinderella's "Don't Know What You Got (Till It's Gone)" blasted from a nearby Daewoo sedan. "This has caused harm to Bubba and he didn't release it, he didn't condone the release of it. He wants to find out who did that and he wants that person to be held accountable."
[UPDATE] Cameron Stracher, an attorney for Gawker, called to tell us he is skeptical of Hogan's claim that he had an expectation of privacy while having sex with Heather Clem. "If you're having sex with another man's wife in another man's house, do you really have an expectation of privacy?" Stracher asks. "I don't think that you do. You have no idea what's going on in that person's house."
Stracher says that is the first question raised by Hogan's claim. "The second is: did Hulk know everything that was going on? I have heard Bubba say that he did. There apparently is other video evidence floating around that suggests he did. So there are a lot of facts out there." Stracher adds, "I would hope that a federal judge reading the First Amendment would throw this case out."
Hmmmm: former best friends turned enemies, nine-figure lawsuits, love triangle involving a buxom woman, garish public threats, what if this was all just a...nahhhhh.
Tagged
gawker
hulk hogan
pornography
sex tapes
tragic denouements
Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.
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