Jury Awards $25M More in Hulk Hogan Sex Tape Case

Florida jury piles on punitive damages
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 21, 2016 6:10 PM CDT
Jury Awards $25M More in Hulk Hogan Sex Tape Case
In this Wednesday, March 9, 2016 file photo, Hulk Hogan, whose given name is Terry Bollea, waits in the courtroom during a break in his trial against Gawker Media in St. Petersburg, Fla   (AP Photo/Steve Nesius, Pool, File)

Awarding Hulk Hogan $115 million apparently wasn't enough. A Florida jury added an extra $25 million in punitive damages on Monday against Gawker Media, its founder, and its former top editor, for posting excerpts of a sex tape featuring the former pro wrestler, USA Today reports. "Just spoke to a juror," tweets WTSP reporter Jennifer Titus, who asked whether the jury was sending a message to Gawker-affiliated websites. "I think we did," the juror said. The decision means Gawker Media chief Nick Denton has to pay $10 million out of his own pocket and former Gawker editor AJ Daulerio, who chose to post the excerpts, must pay $100,000. But the initial $115 million award "is already far beyond their means," Gawker attorney Michael Berry told the jury before the latest ruling, the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Heather Dietrick, general counsel and president of Gawker, said she's confident the company will win on appeal. "There is so much this jury deserved to know and, fortunately, that the appeals court does indeed know," she writes. According to Dietrick, Hogan had said he knew he was making a sex tape, had made other tapes with the wife of former friend Bubba Clem, and sent text messages to Clem "that undermine this case." But Hogan, née Terry Bollea, saw reason to celebrate. "I think we made history today, because I think we protected a lot of people today who may be going through what I went through," he said outside the courthouse, Reuters reports. "So we're very excited, very happy." (Here's what Hogan's sex-tape case might mean.)

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