Former professional wrestler seeks unspecified damages for allegedly leaked court documents
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“[Bollea’s] income was cut off, his legacy in entertainment was severely damaged (if not completely destroyed), and his global brand was forever tarnished,” states the new Florida suit. Bollea claims that the alleged leaked documents quoted him making racist remarks that led to the WWE firing Bollea and removing his name from its Hall of Fame.
The new charge comes after a Florida court awarded Bollea $140 million against Gawker, which was an additional $25 million more than Bollea originally sued for. A jury of six Floridians said the website had violated Bollea’s right to privacy in 2012 by posting snippets of a video showing the wrestler having sex with Heather Clem, wife of his former best friend, radio shock jock Bubba the Love Sponge Clem.
“This is getting ridiculous,” Gawker Media said in a statement responding to the second charge on Monday. “Hulk Hogan is a litigious celebrity abusing the court system to control his public image and media coverage. As we’ve said before and are happy to say again: Gawker did not leak the information … It’s time for Hulk hogan to take responsibility for his own words, because the only person who got Hulk Hogan fired from the WWE is Hulk Hogan.”
Gawker is appealing the $140 million jury verdict over Bollea’s sex tape. Bollea has not specified the amount of damages his is seeking from the new suit.