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  Hulk Hogan suit: Gawker founder files for bankruptcy

Hulk Hogan suit: Gawker founder files for bankruptcy

AFP
Published : Aug 3, 2016, 1:22 am IST
Updated : Aug 3, 2016, 1:22 am IST

Gawker Media founder Nick Denton has filed for personal bankruptcy protection in a bid to stop Hulk Hogan from seizing his assets in a multimillion-dollar sex tape judgment.

Gawker Media founder Nick Denton has filed for personal bankruptcy protection in a bid to stop Hulk Hogan from seizing his assets in a multimillion-dollar sex tape judgment.

The office of the British internet entrepreneur, who controls a 68 per cent stake in the news and entertainment website, confirmed the move. His lawyers gave no further details when asked to comment.

In March, a US jury in Florida ordered that wrestling star Hogan be allowed to collect $140 million in total compensation after Gawker published a tape of him having sex with a friend’s wife. Gawker Media filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in June, also seeking to sidestep a shutdown over the jury’s verdict.

Denton estimated his assets at $10-15 million, according to a copy of his Chapter 11 individual bankruptcy filing published by Politico. In a memo to staff, Denton appeared upbeat about the prospects of Gawker surviving.

After the company filed for bankruptcy, the embattled US media group said it had reached a deal to sell its media brands to publishing group Ziff Davis. “We can be proud that we survived and prospered as an independent company for more than a decade, and have a second act ahead of us, under the shelter finally of a larger media company,” Denton wrote.

He slammed what he called a “personal vendetta” and called it “disturbing to live in a world in which a billionaire can bully journalists because he didn’t like the coverage,” Denton wrote in the memo to staff.

While Gawker has come under fire for its no-holds-barred approach to celebrity coverage, the case also raised questions about whether powerful interests can use their resources to silence media for unfavourable coverage.

Location: United States, New York