![]() ![]() ![]() That hurdle disappeared recently when Thiel agreed not to file a defamation suit against the company or its past writers going forward and also agreed to a standstill agreement saying he won’t participate in a new auction.Įven though Didit is backed by real estate mogul Bert Brodsky - famous for buying and then demolishing the mansion that once inspired F. Holden said the estate had long opposed the Thiel bid since it was feared it would force the site to cease to exist and keep its archives off the web permanently. The Hogan suit eventually was settled for $31 million. Thiel has been gunning for Gawker for years, ever since it outed him as gay before he had publicly done so. Thiel was the funder of the Hogan invasion-of-privacy lawsuit against the site founded by Nick Denton, whose massive jury verdict forced Gawker Media to file for bankruptcy. There was also a worry that if he lost in the auction, he would tie up the winner with new litigation, Holden said. The original expectation earlier this year was that if he won, he would shutter the site for good. The move to establish a stalking horse bid was made possible because Silicon Valley mogul Peter Thiel, a PayPal co-founder who was among the suitors, has dropped out. He expects the eventual winner will be determined at the July auction. William Holden, with the Boathouse Group, represents the Gawker estate. “Hopefully, we can keep the lights on with the rest of the revenue,” said Lee. The idea is that since celebs and consumers know that part of the revenue is going to a good cause, they will embrace the site. Readers will also be able to designate favorite charities for another 25 percent slice of the ad revenue. “We’ll cover celebrity babies and dating, but not the cheating or the DWIs or the rehabs,” said Lee, whose 100-employee, Mineola-based company counts clients including Footlocker and .Ĭelebrities who sit for interviews on their latest movie, for instance, could also designate a favorite charity to receive 25 percent of all the ad revenue that the story attracts to the site. If Didit wins the auction, it will take Gawker in a new direction, covering “good gossip only” as part of a new “story telling platform” to be used in a “caused-based marketing” platform, according to the agency’s co-founder and executive chairman Kevin Lee. Gawker had aired an excerpt of a video of Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, having sex with the wife of his then-best friend. The other blogs were sold to Univision, leaving just Gawker in Chapter 11 and dormant. Gawker Media - which included sports news site Deadspin, tech site Gizmodo and Jezebel, a blog focused on women - was forced into bankruptcy in 2016 after a Florida jury awarded former professional wrestler Hulk Hogan $140 million after an invasion-of-privacy lawsuit. An auction for the Gawker site will take place in July, sources said. The bid, from Didit, a Long Island digital ad agency, comes with plans to turn the once-biting and snarky site into a “good gossip” news site, the agency’s co-founder told The Post.ĭidit’s offer, called a stalking horse bid, is expected to be certified by a judge on June 20. Gawker took its first tentative steps toward being revived when a bankruptcy judge on Tuesday accepted a $1 million opening bid for the gossipy website that went dark in 2016. Gawker begs readers to have an 'open mind and heart' in quiet relaunchįirebrand writer tapped to bring Gawker back from the dead News, gossip site Gawker shuts down - again!ĭeadspin owner G/O Media buys business news site Quartz ![]()
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