Michael Rothman of ABC News is featuring a lengthy recap of Tuesday’s Florida courtroom testimony involving Hulk Hogan and his personal life from the legal team defending Gawker. The WWE Hall of Famer is suing the website for $100 million for publishing a video of him having sex with Heather Clem, the wife of Bubba the Love Sponge.
Here are some highlights courtesy of ABC News.
* Gawker’s defense team brought up an interview Hulk Hogan (Terry Bollea) took part in with Howard Stern regarding the sex tape. Hogan claims he only addressed the tape because he was “under heavy fire” from Stern to discuss it.
* “You have to take the good with the bad. That’s his show, he’s in control … you have to follow his lead, that’s how his show works,” added Hogan about the Stern show. “I was trying to make the best of a bad situation.”
* When asked why he further discussed the tape with other media, Hogan stated he didn’t have a choice and that when they tried to get Gawker to take the tape down, they refused and that “it just fueld this fire that was overwhelming.”
* Hogan said he was concerned fans would think the tape was a publicity stunt. “If I was in this thing to make money, there were all these offers … no, brother we don’t want to make money off this, we don’t want this happening.”
* Hogan noted that when the tape was released in 2012 on Gawker, he wasn’t able to sleep, eat and just “felt like I was turned inside out.” He described it as a cloud hanging over his head and that he still feels that way to this day.
* Gawker argues that the release of the tape is protected by the First Amendment and that images of Hogan are of interest to the public because he is celebrity.
ABC News: Hulk Hogan’s Personal Life Discussed During Sex Tape Testimony