But Denton, an outspoken former Financial Times journalist, said in a staff memo that he won’t be one of them.
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Gawker.com said Thursday it will shut down next week after almost 14 years of operation. Gawker had published a video of Hogan having sex with a friend’s wife; a Florida jury awarded Hogan $140 million in damages.
A person familiar with the matter said that Univision intends to take the site down completely.
Univision’s asset purchase agreement for the deal, filed Wednesday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of NY in Manhattan, gave the acquirer the option to exclude Gawker.com up to three days before closing of the deal.
Hogan’s lawsuit was bankrolled by billionaire investor Peter Thiel.
USA celebrity website Gawker.com will shut down next week months after it lost a high-profile lawsuit against former wrestler Hulk Hogan over a sex tape published online.
Following approval by a bankruptcy court, Univision Communications formally agreed to acquire digital media assets of Gawker Media Group for $135 million.
An Univision executive confirmed that the company has no plans to operate Gawker.com.
As it rose in prominence, Gawker began writing on broader issues, popularizing a snarky tone that came to define a certain style of blogging.
The site’s unsparing coverage prompted several lawsuits, including the one brought by the former professional wrestler Hulk Hogan that sent the parent company into bankruptcy. Gawker argued in the Hogan case that it was protected by the First Amendment.
They are: Gawker.com, Deadspin, Lifehacker, Gizmodo, Kotaku, Jalopnik, and Jezebel.
A spokeswoman for Univision declined to comment.
But among its brethren, Gawker.com always tended to command the spotlight.
The announcement closes a chapter in Gawker’s recent struggles following a long lawsuit by wrestler Terry Bollea, known as Hulk Hogan, which was funded in part by Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel.
This story originally appeared in The New York Post.
The company had to file for bankruptcy, which allowed Univision to buy Gawker Media on Tuesday.
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KitGuru Says: As much as it’s hard to support wealthy individuals taking down a news site, it’s even harder to defend Gawker’s actions in essentially posting revenge porn and claiming it as news.
