Anna M. Phillips of The Tampa Bay Times is reporting that six jurors officially began deliberation on Friday regarding the lawsuit between Hulk Hogan and Gawker.
Closing arguments were heard by attorneys for Hogan stating that the WWE Hall of Famer “suffered terribly” when portions of the sex tape were posted online in 2012 by Gawker. Attorneys maintain Hogan was secretly recorded and that his privacy was violated.
Attorneys are asking for roughly $50 million in compensatory damages, a figure that was determined if Hogan had chosen to market the sex tape himself (something he testified never actually crossed his mind. Gawker was described as a “morally debased, traffic-hungry writers” that don’t believe in the right to privacy for anyone.
Attorneys for Gawker asked jurors to remember their “childhood civics classes” on the reach of the First Amendment adding, “What we ask you to do is harder, but ultimately is right. We ask you to protect something that some among you may find uncomfortable.” It was later suggested by the same Gawker attorneys that Hogan may have been aware he was being filmed noting that in the video he asked if he was being filmed. “Why does that he ask that? Because it’s Bubba’s bedroom. If anyone knows the dark and twisted things that Bubba is into, you can bet it is Mr. Bollea, you can bet it’s Hulk Hogan.”
Tampa Bay Times: Hulk Hogan vs. Gawker sex tape lawsuit now in jury’s hands