“The meta point is worth making,” he said, but stated that he was clueless about the jury in Florida, who saw New York media elitism. He said the point was to learn more about ourselves, what are our own habits and curiosities, but said it was too sophisticated a point, and the story was essentially packaging a sex video. If you’re going to expose somebody to mockery, there has to be a point to it,” he admitted. The appeals court thought it was OK…the circuit court didn’t. “That story was clearly close to the line. He does acknowledge that the story that got him in trouble probably was a bit too controversial, though he still stands by his efforts. You would think that would leave Denton with his tail between his legs, but quite the opposite. Gawker has since shuttered and Univision snapped up its remaining network of websites for $135m. Conservative billionaire Peter Thiel capitalized on the opportunity to hit back at Gawker after it outed him with the headline “Peter Thiel is totally gay, people,” and funneled $10m to help Hogan fund the legal battering ram that eventually led to the company’s downfall. In 2012 the company published a sex tape featuring wrestler Hulk Hogan, who subsequently threatened to sue. The site was known for its sensational, and some would say sensationalistic, including Denton, news stories. Denton founded – which later became Gawker Media with seven websites – in 2002.

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