During a cross examination of Hulk Hogan, who is suing Gawker Media for $100 million for posting a clip of a sex tape involving the wrestler, defense attorneys attempted to show that the wrestler has promoted himself by publicly discussing his sex life and other intimate topics.
Gawker attorney Michael Sullivan cited a litany of examples, including a television appearance before the sex tape was public when he discussed what was then just a rumor of a tape involving him and a then-unidentified brunette woman. In the clip, Hogan jokes that he had been with several brunette women at around that time, saying, "I had about four-and-a-half months that I really went crazy. I actually wrote that in my book – I was staying drunk and crazy. I was really out of my mind for a while."
Sullivan also brought up Hogan's discussion of an extramarital affair in his autobiography. He cited his wrestling days when he would allegedly pull a competitor's pants down. And he played a clip from Hogan's reality television show Hogan Knows Best, in which Hogan is shown on the toilet with his pants at his ankles.
In response to Sullivan's question about whether Hogan considered the clip of him on the toilet an invasion of his privacy, Hogan responded, "No. I'm on a TV show. There are certain artistic liberties you take when you're in character."
Later, he tried to underscore a distinction between his public persona and private life, saying, "I'm trying to help you understand: When I leave my house, everybody thinks I'm Hulk Hogan. But in the privacy of my own home, I'm Terry Bollea."
Hogan, 62, is going by his legal name, Terry Bollea, at the trial. He claims his privacy was violated when Gawker posted a portion of a video in 2012 showing him having sex with heather Heather Clem, the former wife of his then-friend Todd Clem, a.k.a. Bubba the Love Sponge, a radio shock jock, who filmed the encounter.
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