Jury awards Hulk Hogan another $US25 million in punitive damages against Gawker

HOW will Gawker survive this? The embattled gossip site just got hit with a massive punitive damages bill for publishing the Hulk Hogan sex tape.

Hulk Hogan, whose given name is Terry Bollea, speaks to the media after a jury returned its decision Monday, March 21, 2016, in St. Petersburg, Fla. A jury has hit Gawker Media with $15 million in punitive damages and its owner with $10 million, adding to the $115 million it awarded last week for publishing a sex video of Hogan. (Dirk Shadd/The Tampa Bay Times via AP) TAMPA OUT; CITRUS COUNTY OUT; PORT CHARLOTTE OUT; BROOKSVILLE HERNANDO TODAY OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT

A FLORIDA jury awarded a total of $33 million ($US25 million) in punitive damages Monday in the Hulk Hogan sex tape trial, hitting Gawker Media with a $US15 million judgment and its owner, Nick Denton, with $13.2 million ($US10 million).

It also assessed $131,982 ($US100,000) against AJ Daulerio, the Gawker editor who decided to post the edited sex video and wrote the post that accompanied it.

The punitive damages come on top of a $152 million ($US115 million) the jury imposed Friday after two weeks of trial.

Hogan sued Gawker after it posted a video of him having sex with his then-best friend’s wife, and said he didn’t know he was being taped.

Hogan’s lawyer had asked jurors Monday to add punitive damages to the $152 million ($US115 million) judgment.

Gawker’s lawyer pleaded that the existing verdict was already “debilitating” for the company.

During brief closing arguments Monday, Hogan’s lawyer Kenneth Turkel said Gawker Media’s gross revenues in 2015 were $64 million ($US48.7 million).

Gawker founder Nick Denton has been ordered to pay $13.2 million ($US10 million). Picture: Eve Edelheit/The Tampa Bay Times

Mr Turkel said founder Nick Denton had a total of $160 million ($US121 million), including a $4.8 million ($US3.6 million) Manhattan condo. Gawker Media is worth $110 million ($US83 million), the lawyers said.

Daulerio, the editor, has no assets, the lawyers said. They said Daulerio had $35,640 ($US27,000) in student loan debt.

Turkel asked the jury to decide on a punitive amount as both punishment to Gawker and a deterrent to other media companies.

Jurors had “an ability to send a message,” Turkel said, adding that Gawker acted with reckless disregard when it posted an edited version of the sex video.

Michael Sullivan, representing Gawker, said the New York Media company has “heard your judgment and we take it very seriously.”

The $152 million ($US115 million) judgment “is punishment enough” and “is already far beyond their means,” he said.

“The amount of that verdict could already be debilitating for Gawker Media,” Sullivan said.

“Your verdict will send a chill down the spine of writers, producers, and publishers.”

Despite the jury’s decision on punitive damages, it’s clear the case isn’t over. Gawker has already said it would appeal.

@TamaraLush

Originally published as Jury awards Hulk Hogan another $US25 million in punitive damages against Gawker