Hulk Hogan And Gawker Media Reach Settlement

Gawker Media and Hulk Hogan have come to terms on a settlement in their lawsuit, ending a battle that spanned several years.

Hogan ultimately won the case, with it being reported that the former WWE Champion agreed to a $31 million settlement with Gawker. The settlement also states that Hogan will get a percentage of the proceeds from the sale of Gawker Media to Univision.

The settlement comes days after both sides were supposed to have a hearing, but that was postponed until November 21. The original decision in the case ruled in favor of Hogan to the tune of a $140 million judgment.

Hogan had refused to settle with Gawker throughout the vast majority of the trial and it was revealed earlier this year that his case was being funded by Peter Thiel, who has a vendetta against Gawker over a 2007 article that essentially talked about him being gay, a fact that Thiel did not want to be public. 

“After four years of litigation funded by a billionaire with a grudge going back even further, a settlement has been reached,” Gawker founder Nick Denton wrote in a blog post. “The saga is over. Hogan’s retirement will be comfortable.”

Gawker then filed for bankruptcy shortly after losing the case and was auctioned off to Univision. 

This saga began after an article was posted on Gawker.com in October 2012 that included clips from a 2007 tape of Hogan having sex with Heather Cole, the wife of his then-best friend, Tampa radio personality Bubba 'The Love Sponge' Clem.

Gawker refused to take down the footage which then spiraled into a massive lawsuit that eventually unearthed audio of Hogan saying racially insensitive comments. He was subsequently fired by WWE, where Hogan had been working since returning to be the host of WrestleMania 30 in 2014.