If you think Gawker’s trademark brand of sneering, snarky nihilism translates well to a courtroom setting, you must be on Hulk Hogan’s legal team.
Hulkamania is currently running wild on the gossip site after it published a sex tape of the wrestler. The Hulkster is suing for $100 million, which, in our post-Erin Andrews era, no longer seems quite so ridiculous.
And here’s how Nick Denton and his band of intrepid journalists are handling it. Julia Marsh and Yaron Steinbuch, NY Post:
Jurors in Hulk Hogan’s sex video trial on Wednesday heard a videotaped deposition of Gawker’s former editor in chief — saying he’d draw the line at posting the sex tape of a celebrity who is under 4 years old.
A.J. Daulerio, 41, was sitting ramrod straight in the Florida courtroom during the awkward moment when he was asked on video by Hogan’s lawyer, “Can you imagine a situation where a celebrity sex tape would not be newsworthy?”
Daulerio answered flatly, “If they were a child.”
Yep, that’s the headline Denton wants: Sex Tapes with Anyone Over the Age of 4 Are Fair Game, Says Ex-Gawker Editor.
But don’t worry, Gawkerites. Daulerio was just being hilario!
A Gawker spokesman later insisted Daulerio was being flippant.
Good idea. In what must’ve been a tremendous act of will, Daulerio did not then put on a handmade Trollface mask and yell, “PROBLEM? U MAD???”
The Post describes Daulerio as looking “bored,” and the jurors as being “distressed” by it. He may as well have ended his deposition by spinning around like Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music and jeering, “Look at all the f***s I give!”
Some guy at an anti-Hillary Clinton website says that when Hogan wins, he should change the site’s name to Hulker. That’ll be quicker to type than 24InchPythonsBrother.com, but not as much fun.