Sex tapes launched by means of Gawker featuring Hulk Hogan and Heather Cole led to a lawsuit that ultimately bankrupted the newsletter in 2016.
Hulk Hogan is known to the world as a famous wrestler, but within a 2016 courtroom, he used to be called by way of his actual identify, Terry Bollea. In a lawsuit, which used to be filed by way of Hulk, the wrestler sued the on-line e-newsletter Gawker for publishing a sex tape of him and Heather Cole, then Heather Clem. Hulk in the long run gained the case, and Gawker went bankrupt because of this. While that knowledge is reasonably widely known, the main points of how the sex tape was once filmed are a little less transparent.
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How did the sex tape get filmed?
Hulk and Heather had been filmed having sex in 2006, when Heather used to be married to Hulk‘s highest buddy, Bubba Clem. During the trial, both Heather and Hulk claimed they were not mindful they had been being recording at the time, and simplest came upon the life of the tape in a while. It’s been alleged that Bubba was once the person who filmed the encounter, according to the NY Daily News.
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During Heather’s testimony, she additionally claimed her husband was once the one who set her up with Hulk. "I was asked to go to Mr. Bollea's room by my husband, and I did," Heather stated throughout a filmed deposition that was played during the trial. This testimony contradicted Hulk’s, as he claimed Heather had hounded him for sex.
Heather was once also asked whether her husband used to be typically answerable for selecting who he had sex with. “On the occasion that I had sex with any person rather than him, yes," she said. Heather also testified that, when she discovered the tape existed, she demanded it be destroyed, and believed it had been until it was published on Gawker years later.
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Did Hulk know he was being filmed?
Although Heather‘s testimony provided a pretty clear story of how she and Hulk wound up recording a sex tape, her ex-husband was less clear about the events leading up to the tape’s creation. Bubba invoked the Fifth Amendment and declined to testify during the trial. He and Hulk settled a previous lawsuit for $5,000 over the sex tape.
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When he has discussed the tape’s creation, though, his story has been inconsistent. According to Business Insider, Bubba previously testified under oath that Hulk did not know he was being filmed when the tape was created. In the past, though, he‘s said the opposite, claiming that Hulk was aware of what was happening at the time.
What Hulk’s victory meant
Although the question of whether Hulk knew he was being filmed at the time has not been totally resolved, the fallout from the 2016 case had major implications for legal precedent. In the case, Gawker’s team was arguing that punishing the publication for publishing the tape would be a violation of their First Amendment right to free speech. Hulk’s team, meanwhile, argued that the publication had violated his privacy.
When Hulk ultimately won the lawsuit, many advocates for the freedom of the press ultimately saw his victory as a unfavorable thing. Gawker used to be fined $a hundred and fifteen million in damages, which in the end led to the end of the e-newsletter.
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