Pro-wrestler Hulk Hogan is battling online news source Gawker in court regarding an online release of clips from a sex tape filmed without Hogan’s consent.
While anyone who sides with Hulk Hogan, also known as Terry G. Bollea, will view this as a case about privacy, the $100 million lawsuit against Gawker will test the limits of freedom of expression for the media and could drastically change how we view the First Amendment.
Although I’m not sold on the whole character celebrity deal, I think Gawker should have requested permission to release any part of the video online.
Gawker posted one minute and 40 seconds of a variety of clips from a 30-minute sex tape that features Hogan and a friend’s wife, Heather Clem, in October 2012. Gawker posted the video after they anonymously received the video footage.
The tape was apparently made from surveillance footage collected by Heather Clem’s husband, whose legal name is Bubba the Love Sponge Clem.
The lawyers for Gawker and the primary owner and founder of Gawker Nick Denton claim that Hogan is a “flashy celebrity, who in radio appearances and writings had often discussed details of his sex life, stoking public fascination that made the topic fair game to journalists.”
Hogan’s personal attorney counters the Gawker team’s argument by stating, “There is a world of difference between discussing something and showing a pornographic video, something that goes online and can be seen forever.”
The tension between posting a video that reveals salacious details of a celebrity’s sex life after the celebrity has openly discussed his sex life and that celebrity’s right to privacy is the crux of this case. The battle between privacy and free expression has been raging for quite some time. The Internet’s ability to spread information so quickly is what makes this case different.
Hogan’s attorney claims the celebrity Hulk Hogan is a character played by Terry Bollea and the consequences of what that character chooses to reveal should not reflect poorly on Mr. Bollea.
The reporting on the existence of the video and description of what the video contains are perfectly acceptable, but we get into a murky, revenge porn situation if the media is allowed to post your sex tape online.
This case should remind everyone of the celebrity nude photo leak in 2014 that harmed many female celebrities. These women were unaware someone had hacked into iCloud to steal their photos, which is similar to Gawker posting clips from an anonymously submitted sex tape that Hogan had no idea existed.
A law professor at the University of Florida told the New York Times, “Clearly, the existence of the tape is newsworthy in the context of this particular celebrity. But does that mean the actual tape itself is newsworthy?”
Celebrity or not, each individual has the ability to chose which parts of their life they want to share and the parts they want to keep private. When it comes to sex tapes or nude photos, the media should ask before posting.
rcm2@indiana.edu
@RachelCMiller1
