Again, like Thiel, Hogan recognized that it would be impossible to beat Gawker with a case predicated on violating freedom of speech laws. But Thiel wasn’t going to let them get away with it.īut when Gawker (predictably) refused to honor Hogan’s request, the star upped the ante and filed a lawsuit. His clever little acronym stood for “Manhattan Based Terrorist Organization” and he based this label off the fact that, in addition to ruining their victims’ lives, Gawker hid behind freedom of speech laws and journalistic protection to avoid the prosecution they so richly deserved. After learning more about Gawker and it’s fast-and-loose relationship with ethics - (Gawker was proud of leaking stolen material like illegally-obtained celeb sex tapes) - he started referring to them as the MBTO. And Thiel wasn’t okay with his life being ruined. But even though it might have been nothing more than business to them, the problem was that their business was comprised of other people’s lives. Their personal feelings toward a target had less to do with their campaigns than their desire to get the media buzzing. And if that leaves you wondering who would do such a thing, then it’s time to take a closer look at the blog and its authors.īut although Thiel might have felt like it was a personal attack on him, the truth is that this was pretty standard behavior for Denton and his team of bloggers. The fact that the article acknowledges that serves only to damn its author because it means that they knew the risks Thiel might face if exposed and they deliberately outed him anyway. At worst, it's prejudice with a handy alibi.” So, even if you don’t consider the fact that Thiel is a fiercely private person by nature, he clearly had a lot of professional reasons to keep his sexuality a secret as well. At best, it's a wrongheaded sense of caution. They instinctively prefer entrepreneurs who remind them of themselves. And as the article itself states, “the clubby ranks of VCs are mostly straight, white and male. And although this would be a traumatizing moment in the life of anyone who’s gay, for Peter, it constituted an additional, unique tragedy. Because one morning, in 2007, Peter woke up to see a blog post published by Gawker Media - a blog post that was entitled, “Peter Thiel is Totally Gay, People.” In that moment, Peter’s most personal secret had been outed not just to a family member or an acquaintance but to the entire internet. "If you're a billionaire and you don't like the coverage of you, and you don't particularly want to embroil yourself any further in a public scandal, it's a pretty smart, rational thing to fund other legal cases.But that’s what happened to Peter Thiel. "My own personal hunch is that it's linked to Silicon Valley, but that's nothing really more than a hunch," Denton told the Times. Gawker founder Nick Denton gave credence to the conspiracy theory this week in an interview with the New York Times Monday in which he said he suspects all of the lawsuits against his company are linked by financing from a common unnamed interest. In this case, however, Thiel or whoever is funding the lawsuit appear to not be seeking any monetary gain. There is nothing illegal about a third-party helping to finance a lawsuit against someone else, but typically the financier hopes to receive a share of the proceeds in any judgment. While Gawker is appealing the verdict, the website is currently facing similar suits from other accusers. "If Peter Thiel is indeed backing the lawsuit, I assume that he thinks that disclosing a sex video without the participant's permission is a violation of the participant's rights - here, a right to privacy," said Eugene Volokh, a professor of law at the University of California at Los Angeles, in an email. (Jeff Christensen/Associated Press)Įxperts say those feelings could be what's fuelling his alleged backing of Bollea's lawsuit. Hulk Hogan recently won a $140 million verdict against Gawker.
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