In a pair on interviews Wednesday morning, Hulk Hogan and Gawker Media chief executive Nick Denton expressed widely different reactions to a Florida jury’s decision to award Hogan $140 million over Gawker’s decision to publish part of a private sex tape.
“They actually picked the wrong guy,” Hogan told ABC’s Linzie Janis in his first interview since the jury’s decision. The interview aired on Good Morning America. “I don’t know how to tell you, I took it real personal.”
The wrestler said he believed Gawker “was hoping that, financially, I wouldn’t be able to stay in the game with them, and I’d quit or tap out or something…I felt like I had this monster on my shoulders no matter where I went.”
On CNBC’s Squawk Box, Denton–who Tuesday wrote an extensive commentary on the jury’s decision–said the jury wanted to “send a message that privacy is important.”
Denton said Gawker would win on appeal, and the case would be resolved within the next 12 months–with Gawker paying Hogan nothing, or an amount far less than $140 million. “One or the other I’d be perfectly satisfied,” he said.
Hogan followed up his GMA interview with a sitdown on The View. Denton will have more to say when he’s a guest on The View Thursday.