The site’s proximate cause of death was a major invasion-of-privacy lawsuit brought by the former pro wrestler Hulk Hogan.
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An 18 August 2016 statement published on Gawker.com says the web site will cease operations in one week. “We have not been able to find a single media company or investor willing also to take on Gawker.com”, he wrote.
Nick Denton, the founder of Gawker Media, told the site’s staff that it will shut down next week, according to a post on its website. Shortly after the judge signed off on the deal, Denton sent a memo to staff addressing both Univision’s acquisition and the plan to shutter Gawker.com.
Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, sued Gawker Media after it posted a video of him having sex with shock jock Bubba the Love Sponge’s then-wife Heather Cole.
In March, a US jury ordered that wrestling star Hogan be allowed to collect $140 million in total compensation after Gawker published the videotape.
The key to Hogan’s defense was that Gawker published the tape instead of just reporting on its existence.
Thiel, who was outed as gay by Gawker’s now-defunct tech blog Valleywag in 2007, told the New York Times in May of this year that his involvement is “less about revenge and more about specific deterrence”.
Three months after Hogan won his suit, Gawker Media filed for bankruptcy.
Staffers of Gawker.com were informed by Denton on Thursday afternoon. The company now publishes six sites in addition to Gawker.com, including the feminist-focused Jezebel, the tech site Gizmodo and the sports site Deadspin.
Technically, Univision has until September to decide if it wants the Gawker namesake website, but as it was at the center of the lawsuits, it clearly has already made that decision.
It later emerged Silicon Valley tycoon Peter Thiel had bankrolled Hogan’s lawsuit.
Univision outbid Ziff Davis, its only rival in an auction for Gawker Media’s assets, on Tuesday. “I can understand the caution”.
The popular website began life as a blog in NY started by Nick Denton and Elizabeth Spiers.
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Denton responded by recalling a list of valuable news broken by Gawker over the years, including Hillary Clinton’s secret email account, Bill Cosby’s history of abusing women and the mayor of Toronto as a crack addict.
