Gawker Files for Bankruptcy After Losing $140M Hulk Hogan Lawsuit (Update)

Gawker has filed for bankruptcy and will reportedly be auctioned off following the $140M Hulk Hogan lawsuit.

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It looks like the other (metaphorical) leg may have dropped on Gawker. Gawker Media, the digital publishing empire behind its controversial namesake blog as well as the sites Deadspin, Jezebel, Gizmodo, and others, filed for bankruptcy on Friday, The Wall Street Journal reported. The company was reportedly put up for auction, and a digital media company called Ziff Davis has already made a deal to purchase it, Gawker Media CEO Nick Denton told Adweek.

The price would be between $90 and $100 million, the The New York Times reported before the Ziff Davis deal was announced as official.

The news comes in the wake of Gawker Media, Denton, and former Gawker editor A.J. Daulerio losing a lawsuit brought against them by pro wrestling icon Hulk Hogan (real name Terry Bollea) for publishing a video of Hogan having sex with the wife of his then-friend, radio host Bubba the Love Sponge Clem.

Hogan didn't mention Gawker by name, but did post this celebratory tweet after the news came out.

Hogan was awarded a whopping $140 million in damages in that lawsuit, and in May, a Florida judge upheld the $140 million ruling and decided not to order a new trial, even after it was revealed Hogan's lawsuit had been funded by tech billionaire Peter Thiel.

Gawker attorneys arestill in the process of appealing the $140 million judgment, and the money doesn't have to be paid immediately. The Tampa Bay Times reported on Friday that a judge granted Gawker Media's motion to postpone payment during the appeal, as long as Denton's millions and Daulerio's thousands of shares in the company were offered up as security.

Gawker Media did not immediately respond to Complex's request for comment, but Denton addressed the future of Gawker and Gawker's sites on Twitter on Friday afternoon:

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