It looks as if the lingering effects of the Hulk Hogan lawsuit have finally taken their toll, as Gawker.com announced that it will be closing its doors for good. On Thursday, the site published a post that revealed, in no uncertain terms, that it would be ceasing operations next week with no new content forthcoming.
The shutdown comes on the heels of Univision purchasing Gawker Media Wednesday for $135 million after a $140 million judgment stemmed from the Hulk Hogan invasion of privacy case, which was bankrolled by Peter Thiel. Gawker has created their fair share of enemies over there, including Thiel, who the site outed a few years ago, which may have been a reason why he financially backed the Hulkster. Gawker contended they were protected by the First Amendment, but that didn’t work out as planned.
Even after Hogan took the site to the cleaners, there was still hope it could continue to function after a bankruptcy auction. Many believed tech entrepreneur Ziff Davis would come out victorious, but Univision pulled a fast one by winning the auction. And then any hopes of Gawker continuing soon vanished with this announcement:
“Nick Denton, the company’s outgoing CEO, informed current staffers of the site’s fate on Thursday afternoon, just hours before a bankruptcy court in Manhattan will decide whether to approve Univision’s bid for Gawker Media’s other assets. Staffers will soon be assigned to other editorial roles, either at one of the other six sites or elsewhere within Univision.”
There has yet to be a decision on what will happen to the site’s archived content. But there’s one person who’s not at all concerned about the fate of the archive. Hogan seemed pleased by the shuttering news and tweeted, “They messed with the wrong guy, brother.”
They messed with the wrong guy brother HH
— Hulk Hogan (@HulkHogan) August 18, 2016