Hulk Hogan is suing Gawker. Again.
It's Round Two, and it's only getting dirtier from here.
Hulk Hogan is reportedly suing Gawker for allegedly leaking a tape to the National Enquirer and Radar Online in which he repeatedly uses a racial slur.
The lawsuit comes just months after Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, won $140 million in damages over Gawker's publication of a clip of a sex tape featuring the former wrestler.
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The story from the Enquirer, which was published in July 2015, reported that Hogan could be seen on tape discussing his daughter's sex life in relation to African-American men, and it included multiple uses of the word "n*gger."
The New York Post first reported the lawsuit. When reached for comment, Gawker seemed to confirm the existence of the lawsuit.
According to a Gawker statement provided to Mashable:
This is getting ridiculous. Hulk Hogan is a litigious celebrity abusing the court system to control his public image and media coverage It was absurd enough that Hulk Hogan claimed $100m for emotional distress and economic damage for a story about a sex life that he'd already made public. Now Hulk Hogan is blaming Gawker for racist remarks he made on another sex tape, which Gawker never had. As we've said before and are happy to say again: Gawker did not leak the information. It's time for Hulk Hogan to take responsibility for his own words, because the only person who got Hulk Hogan fired from the WWE is Hulk Hogan.
Hogan's lawyer did not immediately return our email request for comment.
The Hollywood Reporter published a copy of the lawsuit, which also names a series of other parties, including Florida radio DJs Michael Calta and Matthew Loyd.
The tape in question came into the FBI's possession after an investigation into a alleged extortion attempt, in which Hogan claimed the tapes were being used to blackmail him.
The FBI reportedly gained possession of the tapes, and Gawker successfully sued to gain access to them. Hogan's lawyers then convinced a judge to seal the tapes and its transcripts.
Hogan is alleging that Gawker broke this order and leaked a transcript of the tape. Gawker had previously denied any wrong doing.
The lawsuit comes right on the heels of the resolution of Hogan's first lawsuit against Gawker.
In March, Hogan and his legal team persuaded a Florida jury that Gawker's publication of a clip of a tape -- in which he was shown having intimate relations with a wife's friend -- violated his privacy.
Gawker has already announced its plans to appeal the decision. Legal experts have said that Gawker stands a good chance of having the $140 million damage award either drastically reduced, or having the case tossed out altogether on First Amendment grounds.
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Jason Abbruzzese is a Business Reporter at Mashable. He covers the media and telecom industries with a particular focus on how the Internet is changing these markets and impacting consumers. Prior to working at Mashable, Jason served as Markets Reporter and Web Producer at the Financial Times. Jason holds a B.S. in Journalism from Boston University and an M.A. in International Affairs from Australian National University.
