Less than two weeks after the trial began, a jury sided with wrestling legend Hulk Hogan in a lawsuit against Gawker Media, which posted scenes from a sex tape in 2012. On March 18, the jury awarded Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, $115 million.
The trial began on March 7, with Hogan claiming that posting the sex tape was a violation of his privacy. His attorney also said that the video, which showed Hogan having sex with the then-wife of Florida radio shock jock Bubba the Love Sponge, was also made without Hogan’s consent.
After less than six hours of deliberation, the jury came back with a verdict, with Hogan awarded $55 million for economic injuries and $65 million for emotional distress, reports WTSP-TV. The jury will have to come back Monday to decide punitive damages.
Gawker CEO Nick Denton vowed to appeal. The site had argued that posting scenes from the sex tape was newsworthy since Hogan often talks about his private life in public.
“Given the key evidence and the most important witness in this case were withheld from the jury, we all knew the appeals court would need to resolve this case,” Denton said after the verdict.
Hogan later celebrated the verdict on Twitter:
The verdict isn’t going to help Gawker, which had been trying to put its more controversial past behind itself. In November 2015, the company announced plans to rebrand itself as strictly a political commentary site, while keeping only a few of its popular sites, like Gizmodo and Deadspin. The move came after a major controversy. A story about someone who was not a public figure was posted, then taken down and two top editors resigned over the issue.