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Gawker Lost Its First Fight Against Hulk Hogan. Here’s Why It Thinks It Can Still Win.

“The lawyers are on our side. The facts are on our side.”

Getty and Re/code

Gawker founder Nick Denton predicted last year that the website would lose to former professional wrestler Hulk Hogan in a court battle that would take place in Hogan’s home field of Florida.

He might not have expected yesterday’s $115 million verdict in Hogan’s favor — but still. Gawker Media has been planning for an initial loss with an appeal to follow, even as it found its first outside investor earlier this year, Columbus Nova.

Re/code’s Peter Kafka spoke to both Denton and Columbus Nova Managing Director Jason Epstein in January about their chances against Hogan, a.k.a. Terry Bollea. If you missed that interview, no worries. Listen to it now in the audio player below, and subscribe to our free podcast Re/code Media with Peter Kafka for more great interviews like it:


“The Hulk Hogan issue, other than comic value to me, is nothing more than a time and money question,” Epstein said at the time. “To any even casual observer of First Amendment rights, the outcome is perfectly clear.”

In other words: Get ready for round two.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

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