![]() ![]() Mary Anne Franks, a University of Miami law professor who has written about the Gawker case, said she wasn't surprised to hear about the settlement. "The jury verdict might have been overruled, but on the other hand, had it not, that could have been detrimental for the news industry as a whole as to what is or is not newsworthy." "It may not be such a bad thing, because this was a risky case," he said. Gawker's defense told the jury that Bollea's lawsuit threatened the First Amendment and its protection of free speech. In 2012, Bollea sued Gawker in Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court for violating his privacy after the New York gossip and news website posted a video of the retired wrestler having sex with the wife of his former best friend, Tampa DJ Bubba the Love Sponge Clem.ĭuring the two-week trial in March, Bollea's attorneys portrayed Gawker as a website run by writers who failed to consider the privacy rights of their subjects. The settlement won't be final until it's approved by a federal judge, however. In a statement, Bollea's attorney, David Houston, said "all parties have agreed it is time to move on." "Beautiful day at our beach brother," Bollea said in a tweet Wednesday. "It is a great day for Terry Bollea and a great day for everyone's right to privacy," Thiel said in a statement Wednesday. "The saga is over."ĭenton was referring to Silicon Valley investor Peter Thiel, a co-founder of PayPal and one of the first investors in Facebook, who reportedly spent millions to fund Bollea's lawsuit - a revelation made weeks after Gawker lost the case. ![]() "After four years of litigation funded by a billionaire with a grudge going back even further, a settlement has been reached," former Gawker CEO Nick Denton wrote on a blog post Wednesday. ![]()
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