Pro wrestler Hulk Hogan testified on Monday that he was “completely humiliated” after a sex tape of him was released while on the stand in his privacy lawsuit against the news website, Gawker.
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“I was probably in the Hulk Hogan mode”, Hogan said.
The trial of alt-media outlet Gawker for invading the privacy of Hulk Hogan (a.k.a. Terry Bollea) by publishing excerpts of a sex tape should end in an acquittal for the website.
Gawker sees its 2012 post as protected speech under the First Amendment of the US Constitution, and contends it was reporting on a celebrity who publicly discussed his sex life.
On Day One of the $100 million trial pitting him against the news and gossip site, Hogan said he was in the midst of an October 2012 publicity tour for TNA Wrestling when he got a call from rival gossip site TMZ about the Gawker post. Hogan said he didn’t know he was being filmed when he had sex with his then-best friend’s wife.
Hogan, who is using his legal name Terry Bollea in court, said the incident occurred at a low-point as his marriage was ending, in a home where he had let down his guard. The video, shot in 2007 around the time of Bollea’s divorce from his first wife Linda, came from a hidden camera in Clem’s bedroom.
“I would never do that to you”, Bubba said, according to Hogan.
Gawker says the publication was a legitimate scoop because Hogan had talked openly about his sex life before, in forums such as Howard Stern’s radio show.
“My problem is this whole videotape that you guys put up”, Hogan told Gawker’s lawyer. And when asked by Hogan if Bubba was going to be filming their sex act, Bubba lied to his best friend.
Hogan emphasized the difference between his private character and the bombastic persona he used professionally with “artistic liberty”. Before Bollea took the stand, the two sides gave opening statements attempting to define what was considered newsworthy.
“Celebrity sex is incredibly tiresome”, said Berry.
Mr Berry said Gawker did not make money off the post.
“He wants the public to have the simple, unvarnished truth the unvarnished truth about public figures”.
During cross-examination, a lawyer for Gawker questioned Hogan about inconsistencies in his evidence and media interviews. “I felt numb”, Hogan told a Florida jury.
Just how the Hulk pans out with his trial and the various tales of sexual proclivity, penis size and other such issues that can only do one thing for America at this time – remove a modicum of attention from Donald Trump and HIS penis size to someone else.
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But on the second day of Hogan’s $100 million civil trial in St. Petersburg, Florida, the defense sought to portray the former professional wrestler as someone who has been willing to broach raunchy aspects of the tape on TV and radio.
