Gawker's Nick Denton on bankruptcy, Peter Thiel, Wells Fargo, and Hulk Hogan
Channel: Catie Lazarus
Date: 2016-10-28

Silicon Valley Entrepreneur Peter Thiel donated 1.25 million dollars to Donald Trump after the Republic candidate acknowledged that he would probably lose the 2016 Presidential race and was exposed for discussing predatory ways he sexually harassed women. Peter Thiel who published a book where he wrote that women don't know if they were raped, recently apologized, only after he was criticized for these remarks. Thiel, who is the first gay RNC speaker to endorse policies which hurt other LGBTQ, sits on the board of Facebook and co-founded Paypal. He is a billionaire and wanted to destroy Gawker, a media website which chronicled Peter Thiel's financial dealings and personal exploits. To do so, Thiel bankrolled numerous lawsuits for over a decade, including one by Hulk Hogan, aka Terry Bollea. Hogan won. A Florida jury awarded him 140 million dollars for having a video of him cheating on his wife with his best friend's wife been made public. It is not clear whether Hulk Hogan's best friend or his former wife handed Gawker the video, or if Peter Thiel paid them off. 

It was the first time in American history that a billionaire was able to shut down a news organization in a democracy. Thiel also personally bankrupted a Gawker journalist AJ Daulerio and Nick Denton.  Releasing 9 seconds of a sex tape was not in good taste, arguably an infringement of privacy, even if Hulk Hogan openly discussed his sex life to the press. Personally, I have zero interest in seeing Hulk Hogan in a unitard never mind naked, so I never watched on it, even though millions of people did. I loathe tabloid journalism, so I exercise my democratic right not to read The National Enquirer, Tattler, and Gawker, and other publications. I do wish publications had stricter standards, and I also recognize that millions of consumers would disagree with me.  

But the real question at the heart of the Gawker case is whether the punishment fits the crime? Could there have been more effective ways to handle questions about privacy, freedom, and news? Hulk Hogan had already been fired from the WWF for his racist remarks was as complicated as Gawker's, so neither of the parties involved were innocent. Why were Nick Denton and a reporter AJ Daulerio personally sued when Hogan had already sued Gawker for so much money? To put it in perspective, Wells Fargo was recently penalized for financial wrong doing which cost hundred of peoples financial savings as well as its own employees and forced to pay 185 million. 

To most of us, there is not much of a difference between a millionaire and billionaire, but Peter Thiel did not try to speak to Gawker first or otherwise engage in conflict resolution. Nick Denton is the first person to acknowledge Gawker's flaws, but he also recognizes his and Thiel's similarities. Both Peter Thiel and Nick Denton, who created Gawker Media were immigrants to America and became extraordinarily successful entrepreneurs in the United States, although Thiel does not feel he should pay taxes or accept other immigrants. They also came out later in life as gay and are remarkably intelligent businessmen. While I have no doubt Denton, a savvy entrepreneur, will rise again, he spoke to Catie Lazarus about what it is like to go bankrupt, cost of words, and unnecessary cruelty money can buy.  



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Recorded October 2016 at Joe's Pub | Audio mixed by Nic Rad | Video by Adam Abel, Sherief Elkatsha, and Fernando Azevedo| Edited by Meredith Kaufman Younger | Graphics by Ed Mundy | Theme Music by Eric Biondo Band featuring MC Jelly Donut and Shockwave, both of Freestyle Love Supreme. www.employeeofthemonthshow.com