In our class recently we watched the film “Nobody Speak: Trials of the Free Press”. This film examines the case between Gawker media a news company known for publishing questionable things about celebrities. Gawker release a sex tape of Hulk Hogan without his permission. Hulk Hogan a famous wrestler and huge name in the media was outraged. He claimed this tarnished his image and made him look bad. This was later filled by a lawsuit. Hogans attorneys wanted so much money that it would bankrupt Gawker and cause them to stop writing stories. There was one piece of this story that was missing for a long time and that was how was Hulk Hogan paying his attorneys. It was later discovered that they were being paid by Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel. Peter thiel had a bad history with Gawker and wanted them gone, this was his perfect opportunity. …show more content…
The verdict of the case went in Hogans favor recently in 2016. Gawker proposed a settlement for $31 million in damages. This case is so important because it was the first time an outside source was financing the plaintiff's case. This is extremely important because Peter Thiel was in doing this strictly for revenge and wanted to see Gawker bankrupt for what they did to him. When it was made public it raised a lot of questions about the legal system. Essentially if you have the money you can pay for the best attorneys which would give you the best chance for winning the case. Personally i do not believe this an ethical practice because this gives a lot of power to rich who could start hiring attorneys for any cases they were personally interested