The ongoing saga of Gawker vs. Hulk Hogan has taken us to some crazy places. First, there was the reality of Gawker unleashing a clip of Hulk Hogan’s sex tape into the world, and adding the term ‘meat thermos’ to my regular lexicon. Hulk Hogan’s racist rants were discovered, and he was dropped from WWE and ousted from their Hall of Fame. His defense pissed off a lot of people, and now a dozen more will be scarred for life now that a jury will be forced to sit through video evidence of Hogan’s infidelity during his current $100 million lawsuit.
Though The National Enquirer broke the story of his racist rants, and actively denies that any of their information came from Gawker, Hogan insists that the media giant had to be behind it. As such, he’s successfully fought to investigate his claims. Via the Tampa Bay Tribune:
In a nine-page order, Circuit Judge Pamela Campbell wrote that…Hogan is entitled to a “forensic inspection” of certain Gawker employees’ computers, servers, emails and text messages. Her order went so far as to list the specific terms an investigator can search, including “racist,” “Hulk Hogan,” and “DVD details.”
Alright, well, good luck finding anything without searching for ‘meat thermos,’ guys.
The search, paid for entirely by Hogan, will apply to Gawker founder Nick Denton, president Heather Dietrick, and former editor A.J. Daulerio. The search is limited to any communications and information stored between June 26 and August 6, 2015. No word on whether or not the findings will be released as “The Top Five Things You Can’t Miss From Nick Denton’s Laptop.”
Gawker’s lawyers have a month to appeal and stop the investigation, saying the order “has no basis in law or fact.” Pft. Since when do laws and facts even matter?
