Hogan always brushed off the couple, but things changed in 2007 when his first wife, Linda, told him she was filing for divorce, he said.
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Hogan said he did not watch the video when he discovered its existence but during a media interview he said he did.
The six-person jury may have to grapple with questions about how celebrity affects expectations of privacy.
Additionally, Bollea says he didn’t have a problem with “news outlets discussing or even writing about the sex tape”, the Associated Press reports.
Hogan claims Gawker invaded his privacy.
The court case will test celebrity privacy rights and freedom of the press in the digital age.
The trial resumed in St. Petersburg with Hogan being cross-examined by Gawker lawyers.
“I had a really hard time just functioning”, he said. Bollea maintains he was unaware that they were being taped, and Gawker says an anonymous source mailed it to them.
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.
Mr Berry said Gawker did not make money off the post.
A lawyer for the online site, Michael Berry, insisted however that the recording and posting of celebrity photos and video – even salacious ones – go with the territory when one is a star.
Tuesday morning, Gawker’s attorneys played a video of Hogan doing an interview with TMZ about the sex tape. What it might do, however, is create a space in which public figures can unilaterally assert privacy as a way to shut down far more consequential discussions than whether Hogan actually boasts a “tripod” (his term for his penis during the Stern appearance discussed at trial).
The trial is expected to last three weeks.
Making the distinction between the character of Hogan and the person of Terry Bollea, he says he was playing Hogan in interviews where he discussed personal and intimate details of his sex life, his anatomy, and his family.
Hogan, 62, was crowned WWF and WCW world champion 12 times during his 1980s and 1990s heyday.
Now, we’re not exactly talking “speech” in Hogan’s sex-with-my-former-best-friend’s-wife here.
Sullivan also showed a clip from the now-canceled reality show “Hogan Knows Best” in which the ex-wrestler had his trousers down, exposing a part of his derriere.
As Hogan testified, he schooled the jury on wrestling history, telling them of being poor, sleeping in his auto while performing in small-town matches across the South and finally getting his break when he was asked to appear in the Rocky III movie.
Denton was in the courtroom Wednesday afternoon, but attorneys for Hogan played his video testimony recorded in a 2013 deposition.
Hogan said the inconsistencies were the result of being shell-shocked by the tape and because he routinely put himself in his wrestling character.
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“So you were discussing Hulk Hogan’s penis?” “It gives you artistic ability, to be a character”.
