Forensic Transmissions Episode 36: Hulk Hogan vs. Gawker Trial Testimony
This is testimony from Day 6 (March 14, 2016) of the Hulk Hogan trial, in which former wrestling star Hulk Hogan sued the gossip website Gawker and its founder Nick Denton for publishing a sex tape of him with his best friend’s wife, Heather Clem.
On the stand, being slowly eviscerated by Hogan’s attorney Douglas Mirell, is 41-year-old Gawker’s editor in chief A. J. Daulerio. Despite his smart jacket and tie, Daulerio looks sleep-deprived and bored, and occasionally comes across as arrogant and supercilious. At the beginning of the proceedings, Mirell refers to testimony from a deposition in which Daulerio admits that he “enjoyed watching the video… because I found it very amusing,” and he was “proud” to have published it. When Mirell asks if he can imagine a situation in which a celebrity sex tape would not be newsworthy, Daulerio replies, “If they were a child.” “Under what age?” asks Mirell. “Four,” Daulerio answers. “No 4-year-old sex tapes, OK,” Mirell says. Daulerio later contends that he was being sarcastic.
But the Florida jury was not amused, and after a two week trial, they awarded Hogan $140 million in damages over the tape, and ordered Dauleria to pay a $100,000 personal fine for posting the tape on the internet. The trial led to Gawker’s downfall, and Daulerio’s bankruptcy.