For the past two days, Gawker Media and Hulk Hogan have been duking it out in a Florida court over a sex tape featuring Hogan that Gawker published back in 2013.
Penis Size, Reality TV and a Sex Tape: Highlights From the Gawker-Hulk Hogan Trial
No, we’re not talking about the next Republican candidates debate.
Getty and Re/code
The stakes are high: Gawker recently took outside investment for the first time, and founder/majordomo Nick Denton directly tied the cash infusion to shoring up the company’s reserves ahead of the trial. Last fall, the New York Times described the $100 million lawsuit brought by Hogan (real name: Terry Bollea) as an “existential crisis” for the company.
If the jury rules in Hogan’s favor*, will it set a dangerous legal precedent for what journalists can and can’t publish? Or does it just set a standard of decency for media companies that publish graphic sexual material without consent of the subjects? Heady stuff!
Fortunately, there’s going to be no shortage of Monday morning quarterbacking over the jury’s ruling, which could come by the end of the week. Until then, there will be, and already has been, ample testimony from Hogan himself, as well as from current and former Gawker editors. Here are some of the highlights of what’s happened thus far, courtesy of journalists covering the trial:
https://twitter.com/annamphillips/status/707245517433131009
https://twitter.com/annamphillips/status/707249294965907457
https://twitter.com/annamphillips/status/707249742099685377
https://twitter.com/kbsmoke/status/707250131293310976
https://twitter.com/kbsmoke/status/707275331334443009
https://twitter.com/TomKludt/status/706936227472285697
https://twitter.com/ProfJeffJarvis/status/707342218030223360
https://twitter.com/kbsmoke/status/707322982738370560
* This is an outcome that Denton and analysts have said is likely, although it would almost surely be reversed after an appeal.
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
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