Hulk Hogan’s sex tape trial had a permanent impact on cases related to celebrity privacy

Famous for his fearless Bravo as a pro -wrestler, Hulk Hogan won his most remarkable victory in a court in Florida after emphasizing his insult and emotional crisis after a news and gossip website, published a video of Hogan, who had sex with a friend’s wife.

A 2016 civic test made the first amendment against the privacy rights of the famous celebrities, which ended with a jury with a $ 140 million $ 140 million in his trial against the Gocker media. Although both sides settled at $ 31 million to avoid the appeals later prevailing, the case dropped the Goker out of the business.

It also ensured Hogan, who died on Thursday at the age of 71, and their legal team will have a long -term impact on the media law. The case has shown that, under some circumstances, celebrities can explain a jury that their right to privacy is ahead of the freedom of the press – even when the published material was true.

The case notices the media outlets that “the public is not necessary like a press,” especially when reporting infiltration in the intimate details of the private life of public figures, Professor of Iowa Law, Samantha Barbas said that presses about the press freedom and first modification issues.

He said that it is also more aggressive in sueing more aggressive news coverage to make celebrities, politicians and others publicly headlines – as recently seen in search of court cases against President Donald Trump’s Wall Street Journal, ABC and CBS.

Barbas said, “I think the permanent impact of the Hulk Hogan case was actually a tendency of cases of complaint and privacy.”

Hogan, named Terry Bolia, sued Gokar for attacking his privacy after the website in 2012, which posts an edited version of a video of Hogan, who has sex with his then best friend, Florida -based Radio DJ Bubba The Love Sponge Claim’s wife.

Claim gave her blessings to the coupling and later recorded a video leaked to Gokkar. Hogan insisted that he was unaware that the intimate encounter was being shot. The former WWE Champion testified that he was “completely humiliated” when the sex video went public.

Hogan’s lead trial Attorney, Kane Turkel, on Thursday recalled how his muscles, Mustchiode clients cried in court as the jury’s decision was read.

“Part of privacy was integral to him. It was important,” said Turkel. “Eight -year -old children ‘Hulk Hogan’ and ‘WrestleMania’, and they were receiving a sex tape.

The three -week trial was carried out beyond the court room in St. Petersburg, Florida, as thousands of wrestling fans, first amendment watches and others stick to their screen as the test was stream online.

Salty details about Hogan’s sex life came out because the gamblers and the audience saw their images in the box underwear. Other testimony focused on how the New York-based Gocker practiced different journalism compared to traditional news outlets. And Hogan explained the jury about the difference between his wrestling personality and his personal life.

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The jury eventually dismissed the arguments by Gokkar’s lawyers that Hogan’s sex tape was new and publishing it, no matter how inferior it was, the speech was protected under the first amendment.

Professor Amy Gajda, Brooklyn Law School, said, “Now more people including judges understand that it is possible to sue someone to reveal something true, as long as something is deeply individual and its publication is highly aggressive,” Brooklin Law School Professor Amy Gajda said, who wrote and written about the case against Gavakar.

News outlets still have comprehensive legal protection to publish information about public data, even things that will usually be considered private, Gajda said

“As long as there is a news value in being published and the media can argue that effectively, they can dismiss a privacy case very quickly,” he said.