14 DAY TRIAL // Hulk Hogan and Gawker are still duking it out in court over the homemade tape featuring the star that emerged online in October last year. Right now, Gawker is refusing to comply with a court order asking it to take down a narrative of the footage.
At the time the video got out – and we might as well mention that it was of a very personal nature – Gawker ran a narrative and an edited video from the 30-minute film.
Hogan sued, made up with his best friend whose wife was also featured in the video, and then got a judge to see things his way, granting a court order for the removal from Gawker of all material related to the topic.
In response, Gawker took down the video but linked to another website which hosted it. It refused to take down the story or anything more, and Hulk is now reportedly fuming mad.
Gawker cites the 1st Amendment in keeping the story online, arguing in a lengthy piece that it is within their right to “publish true things about public figures,” as editor John Cook argues.
Hogan doesn’t see things the same way, so he’s pressing on with the case, The Hollywood Reporter informs, while Gawker has already filed an appeal.
“Gawker has appealed the ruling, and on Monday morning, it got a Florida appeals court to issue an emergency stay of the temporary injunction in regards to a description of the tape. The two sides will soon be at the District Court of Appeal for the Second Circuit in Florida arguing the First Amendment issues at hand,” THR says.
“In the meantime, Hogan (born Terry Bollea) is advancing with a motion to show cause why Gawker should be held in civil contempt for openly disobeying Judge Pamela Campbell's instruction,” says the same report.
As we also informed you, at the time Hogan filed the lawsuit against Gawker, he also sued his best friend Bubba the Love Sponge, asking for $100 million (€76.7 million) on the claim that Bubba had secretly taped and leaked the footage to the press.
They settled a short while later.