The Hulk Hogan sex tape that Gawker Media published back in 2012 could cost the company up to $100 million and force company founder Nick Denton to sell the company or seek outside investors, according to Capital New York and Business Insider.
Gawker published clips of a leaked sex tape featuring Hogan and Heather Clem (then wife of his friend Bubba the Love Sponge). Hogan sued Gawker later that year.
In a meeting with the Gawker staff earlier this month, Denton said:
“I have way, way less money than people think! … I don’t have hundreds of millions of dollars to kind of bail the company out. If we are in an environment with higher business risk and higher legal risk, then the company is going to need somebody with deeper pockets and hopefully principles in order to keep it both commercially viable and editorially viable.”
Gawker founder Denton told Business Insider the likelihood of the lawsuit sinking his company is “unlikely but possible.”
The Hollywood Reporter has also published a story looking at why Hulk Hogan is likely to lose his lawsuit against Gawker.
