GotNews‘s Charles Johnson has changed his mind: He’s moving forward with his plan to sue Gawker. This, after insisting late last week that he had dropped the lawsuit against them for suggesting that he shit the floor in college.
Gawker is also suing Johnson.
After filing for bankruptcy last week, the site is trying to save itself by suing all the people who are coming after them. Last week, Johnson said he’d be willing to purchase Gawker for $350.
A new court date has been set for six months from now on December 15.
“I haven’t yet decided if I’m going to be hiring an attorney or what that is going to be like, but I have a six month continuation,” said Johnson, noting that many of Gawker‘s victims have reached out to him, urging him to sue Gawker.
His lawsuit wouldn’t require a large sum of money from the defendants.
“Nick Denton says that he believes in the first amendment,” Johnson told The Mirror. “I’m happy to settle the case. He won’ t have to spend a penny, but every person who has been a victim of Gawker will get to write 1000 words on Gawker.com about what they think about Gawker.”
Johnson baited him. “If he’s a real believer in the first amendent, he’ll let us do it. It’ll be great for the first amendment. He says he wants a meeting with Peter Thiel?” he wrote, referring to the Silicone Valley billionaire who financed Hulk Hogan‘s lawsuit against Gawker. “Well I’m ready for my meeting with him anytime.”
Johnson, meanwhile, says the bounty for dirt on Denton’s business dealings has risen to $50,350.
Explaining away Gawker‘s lawsuit against him, Johnson said, “His people need to sue me to avoid my claim.”
Johnson warns anyone who is considering purchasing Gawker to think twice.
“If I were Ziff Davis, J2Global and IGN, I would be very careful in buying Gawker given how much Gamergate, Reddit and all decent people on the Internet think Gawker is a terrorist organization,” he said. “I would also be very careful trusting anything Nick Denton says about the value of his company given his history of lying all throughout the Hulk Hogan trial. Gawker media was on a black list thanks to [former] Gawker employee Sam Biddle saying video game players are dead, which cost them over a million in ad revenue. How could they justify buying a company that says gamers are dead. I’d be happy to provide their analysis with high level dudiligence work. I’d be happy to help them.”
Johnson’s lawsuit does have a dollar figure — it’s $24 million.
“The problem is that I’m not allowed to really go into too much detail because of the bankruptcy,” he said. “They freeze everything so if you start pummeling, the judge can sanction the shit out of it. That’s the last thing I want to have happen right now.”
Johnson says if Denton does go for his offer, he has other plans.
“I don’t want money from him — yet,” said Johnson. “But if he doesn’t I am going to go after him very aggressively. Basically I am trying to offer him an olive branch.”