Following weeks of insolvency rumors, Gawker Media – the sleazy blog network that makes PerezHilton.com look like a bastion of journalistic integrity – finally filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy today.
The move has been anticipated by many ever since a March 18 court ruling in which former pro wrestler Hulk Hogan was awarded $ 115 million in his lawsuit against the site.
That same week, a jury awarded Hogan an additional $ 25 million, thus putting Gawker on the hook for a total of $ 140 million.
Both decisions stemmed from the company’s decision to post portions of Hogan’s sex tape online.
Hogan filed a suit against Gawker for $ 100 million, alleging a violation of his privacy.
The jury saw it his way and then some – awarding the iconic wrestler $ 15 million more than he asked for, and then slapping on an additional $ 25 million in punitive damages.
It was later revealed that Hogan’s legal expenses had been covered by Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel.
Thiel has had beef with Gawker since 2007, when the site outed him as gay.
“It’s less about revenge and more about specific deterrence,” Thiel recently told The New York Times.
The good news for Gawker is that the company can now postpone paying Hogan the colossal sum that it owes him.
The bad news is – well, just about everything else.
Gawker.com confirmed moments ago that all it’s parent company will be sold to “another entity.”
The official statement adds that the sites under the Gawker Media umbrella will continue normal operations “for the foreseeable future,” but confirms that the suit has resulted in “the most significant change to Gawker’s corporate structure in its 14-year history.”
Digital publisher Ziff Davis has reportedly already placed a bid, with $ 100 million as the opening price.
It’s tough luck for Nick Denton and the other famously unscrupulous powers that be at Gawker, but as the esteemed Hulkster himself so memorably opined, “Whatcha gonna do, brother?”
