"I don't feel like I'm off the hook, and I don't feel like I'm ever off the hook," he said. But he said he doesn't feel much relief either. Reached by phone on Friday, Daulerio said he doesn't feel bitter about the settlement. In August, the plaintiff's lawyers vigorously pursued his modest personal assets and froze the $1,500 in his bank account. Unlike the other defendants in the Hogan case, Daulerio did not file for bankruptcy protection and has faced perhaps the greatest hardship since the trial. Daulerio, the author of the post containing the Hogan sex tape footage who is scheduled to appear in Florida court for another hearing this month. It's unclear what the result of it all will be for former Gawker editor A.J. Why would he stop now? He did everything that he hoped to do." "That's going to last as long as anyone criticizes him. "This happens because Peter Thiel thinks he is entitled to not being criticized," Scocca said. Scocca believes the settlement with Hogan will give impunity to Thiel to continue to go after journalists who cover him unfavorably. In recent months, Harder has brought lawsuits and made legal threats to other journalists and news organizations on behalf of Melania Trump and ousted Fox News chairman Roger Ailes. Hogan, Ayyadurai and Terrill were all represented by Charles Harder, the Beverly Hills attorney tapped by Thiel to lead his anti-Gawker crusade. "But the Thiel-backed lawsuits would not have ended there," he said. In an email, Denton told CNNMoney that he shares "the disappointment that we could not get to appeal." "Victory on appeal was the thing that kept people going, and the surrender of that chance, certifying the verdict of the show trial against us, is an unspeakably bitter result." "It seems they perceived that the bankruptcy process was going to be too costly and brutal for them to endure, but the price they paid in principle and money amounts to complete destruction," Scocca said. The Florida court that would have heard Gawker's appeal had already made a ruling sympathetic to Gawker.īut Denton wrote Wednesday that "all-out legal war" with billionaire entrepreneur Peter Thiel, who was revealed as the benefactor behind the Hogan lawsuit and other litigation against Gawker, "would have cost too much, and hurt too many people, and there was no end in sight." Such confidence wasn't unfounded, either. The staggering verdict forced Gawker to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, leading to its sale this summer.ĭenton asserted throughout that Gawker would ultimately be vindicated by a higher court's reversal of the judgment. Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, landed a $140.1 million judgment from a Florida jury earlier this year in an invasion of privacy trial stemming from Gawker's publication of excerpts from his sex tape in 2012. "I think it's extremely bleak and disappointing, and most of all, I stand by my work," Biddle said. Related: Peter Thiel defends his support of Donald Trumpīiddle's stories chronicled Terrill's conflict with the cofounder of Tinder and questioned Ayyadurai's claims to have invented email. As another part of the deal, the three stories about Hogan, Ayyadurai and Terrill that prompted the lawsuits will be removed.Īyyadurai and Terrill sued Cook and Sam Biddle, a former Gawker writer who now works at The Intercept, claiming the stories were "false and highly defamatory." Two other plaintiffs who brought lawsuits against Gawker, Shiva Ayyadurai and Ashley Terrill, settled for $750,000 and $500,000, respectively. Under the terms of the settlement, Hogan will be paid $31 million plus a percentage of the proceeds from Gawker's sale to Univision. They learned of the settlement as news reports began to trickle out Wednesday. As far as they knew, Denton and the estate were preparing for an appeal. "Considering how much the people involved in this case were put through I can't blame anyone for wanting to get the whole situation over with," Nolan said.Įmployees at Gizmodo Media were given no indication that a settlement was imminent this week. Related: Gawker and Hulk Hogan settle lawsuit: 'The saga is over' Hamilton Nolan, a long-serving writer at the company, said he understands the desire for a resolution.
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