Nick Denton’s Gawker.com is closing after parent company Gawker Media was purchased by Univision. While fans mourn the loss of their favorite gossip site, several past victims are probably celebrating.
Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel forced Gawker into bankruptcy when he financed Hulk Hogan’s lawsuit against the site because he was angry Gawker outed him as gay. Thiel is obviously happy Gawker is closing, but he’s not alone.
Hulk Hogan was awarded a $140 judgement when he sued Gawker for invasion of privacy after it published portions of a sex tape. The former wrestler has already celebrated on Twitter.
In 2008 Gawker published a creepy Scientology recruitment video featuring Tom Cruise that showed a side of the actor most fans didn’t know existed.
Jimmy Kimmel got upset in 2007 when Gawker added a “Gawker Stalker” map that updated celebrity sightings in real time.
Friends of former Toronto mayor Rob Ford are probably happy Gawker is going dark. Ford died of cancer five months ago, but Gawker famously exposed him smoking crack.
In 2010, the site published an anonymous account of a one-night stand with conservative Tea Party activist Christine O’Donnell. She was not happy and the site also published her response.
Gawker published, and then removed, a post about a married Conde Nast executive planning a rendezvous with a gay porn star in Chicago. Somewhere, this man is smiling.
Tommy Craggs, former executive editor of Gawker Media, and Max Read, the ex-editor-in-chief of Gawker.com quit their jobs because of they didn’t agree with the decision to remove the Conde Nast story. They probably don’t like to see their former home go dark, but they can smile that they got out before the end.
