RIP Gawker.com
At least we’ll always have “cunt plug” in our vocabulary thanks to Gawker.com….
Gawker Media declared bankruptcy and went up on the auction block after Hulk Hogan and evil gay billionaire Peter Thiel teamed up to take them down. Hulk sued them for posting clips of a sex tape that was recorded without him knowing it. Hulk won the case and a $140 million judgement. Gawker Media filed for bankruptcy to protect their assets from Hulk’s oiled-up and tanning bed-roasted paws as they go through appeals. Univision bid $135 million for Gawker Media earlier this week and they won. The sale still has to be approved by a bankruptcy court judge and that hearing will happen today. If the judge gives a thumbs up, the sale will be a done deal by next month. The Wall Street Journal says that in the sale agreement is a clause that lets Univision put a “CLOSED” sign on Gawker.com permanently, and they’ve done just that. Univision is expected to keep Gawker Media’s other sites (Jezebel, Deadspin, Lifehacker, Gizmodo, Jalopnik and Kotaku) open.
Gawker.com writer J.K. Trotter said in a post today that they’re leaving the internet after 14 years. Give me a minute, I have to dry heave a bit after picturing Hulk Hogan rubbing his orange salchicha all over his computer screen with Gawker’s goodbye post on it.
Gawker was started by Nick Denton in 2002, and POLITICO says that he’s expected to go out the exit door along with Gawker.com. Here’s Gawker.com’s announcement:
After nearly fourteen years of operation, Gawker.com will be shutting down next week. The decision to close Gawker comes days after Univision successfully bid $135 million for Gawker Media’s six other websites, and four months after the Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel revealed his clandestine legal campaign against the company.
Nick Denton, the company’s outgoing CEO, informed current staffers of the site’s fate on Thursday afternoon, just hours before a bankruptcy court in Manhattan will decide whether to approve Univision’s bid for Gawker Media’s other assets. The near-term plans for Gawker.com’s coverage, as well as the site’s archives, have not yet been finalized.
The WSJ says that Univision will offer jobs to Gawker.com employees at their other sites including the other six Gawker brands, The Onion, The Root, Clickhole, A.V. Club and Fusion.
Peter Thiel admitted that he bankrolled Hulk’s legal fight against Gawker, because he has been on a mission to destroy their asses ever since he says one of their sites outed him years ago. So, I guess Hulk and Peter got what they wanted, and they would do a chest bump of victory, but Hulk doesn’t bump chests with dudes outside the ring. Hulk no homo.