Gawker.com’s closing is the final chapter of a years-long legal battle between Gawker and professional wrestler Hulk Hogan, who sued the website for releasing a sexually graphic video recorded of him without his knowledge.
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U.S. internet publisher Gawker Media Group said it will shut down Gawker.com next week, ending the online news and gossip website’s 14-year run.
“The near-term plans for Gawker.com’s coverage, as well as the site’s archives, have not yet been finalized”, Gawker.com said.
Gawker said Denton, the company’s chief executive, informed staffers of the news Thursday afternoon, a few hours before a bankruptcy court in Manhattan decides on Univision’s offer. Univision, which also owns El Rey and Fusion, bought Onion, Inc. back in January, and earlier this week it bought Gawker Media for $135 million at auction.
Naturally, no potential buyer wanted to keep Gawker.com site alive, since it’s the website that led to the disastrous litigation that damn near destroyed the company.
The site’s current employees will get new roles at Gawker Media or Univision.
Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, filed an invasion of privacy suit against Gawker Media after the namesake site published a portion of his sex tape in 2012. Ziff was the original bidder for Gawker, and it had arranged for a provision that let Denton stay in the company in a two-year consulting capacity.
Gawker Media’s other blogs included the women-focused Jezebel, tech-oriented Gizmodo and sports site Deadspin.
Univision’s bid “contemplated, but did not assure, that Gawker.com would be shuttered”, according to bankruptcy research firm Reorg Research. It came just before a bankruptcy hearing at which a judge was to rule on approving the company’s sale to Univision.
As Wired notes, Gawker’s fate was sealed when they outed venture capitalist Peter Thiel’s sexual orientation with a 2007 post titled, “Peter Thiel is totally gay, people”. Denton’s crudity and bad taste were reflected in Gawker’s nauseating style, reminiscent of a cheap porn magazine.
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Thiel recently defended his actions in a New York Times op-ed, arguing that “the defense of privacy in the digital age is an ongoing cause” and that “whatever good work” Gawker has done “will continue in the future”.
