SELECCIONA EL MES

ADVERTISEMENT 2

ADVERTISEMENT 3

Error: No articles to display

ADVERTISEMENT 1

ADVERTISEMENT 4

A+ A A-

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Jurors began deliberating Friday afternoon in the trial of pro wrestler Hulk Hogan's lawsuit against Gawker media over a sex video.

In spirited closing arguments, lawyers for Hogan and Gawker discussed themes of personal life versus celebrity, and freedom of speech versus the right to privacy.

Hogan, whose given name is Terry Bollea, is suing Gawker for $100 million for posting a video of him having sex with his former best friend's wife. Hogan contends the 2012 post violated his privacy.

Hogan's attorneys told jurors this is the core of the case: "Gawker took a secretly recorded sex tape and put it on the Internet."

They said Hogan didn't consent to the video, that Gawker didn't follow usual journalism procedures before posting it and that the video wasn't newsworthy. Gawker did not try to contact Bollea or the woman in the video, and nor did the website contact the woman's husband, DJ Bubba The Love Sponge Clem, who recorded the video.

It was never conclusively determined during trial who leaked the video to the media.

Hogan didn't ask for any of this to happen, lawyer Kenneth Turkel said, adding that Bollea, the private man, expected privacy during an intimate moment. Much was made during the trial of Hogan's celebrity persona versus Bollea's privacy.

"I want you to imagine the fact that for 35 plus years he is essentially an actor, an entertainer, who has played the same role," said Turkel.

He said Hogan "has every right, every right, to keep whatever precious private moments in his life, which for this gentlemen are very few."

Hogan's lawyers also said Gawker's value increased by $15 million due to the post, while Gawker contends it made $11,000 in ad revenue.

Gawker's attorneys told the jury that the video is "not like a real celebrity sex tape" and urged them to watch the video, which contains nine seconds of sexual content.

They pointed out that news of the sex tape first appeared on at least two websites: TMZ and The Dirty. Hogan went on TMZ's TV program to talk about it, and later, appeared on the Howard Stern show.

"He has consistently chosen to put his private life out there, for public consumption," said attorney Michael Sullivan.

He also criticized Hogan's claim that he was in Hulk Hogan persona when he was doing interviews.

"An actor playing a character does that on set, but when they go on a talk show, they're themselves," Sullivan said.

Sullivan called into question whether the tape was all a celebrity stunt to drum up publicity for Hogan's career.

He suggested that although the jurors might find the video, Gawker and Hogan's sex life distasteful, they must protect the First Amendment right to free speech.

"We ask you to protect something that some of you may find unpleasant," he said. "To write, to speak, to think about all topics, to hold public figures accountable. It is right in the long run for our freedoms."

Meanwhile, in a related development, sealed documents in the case are expected to be unsealed late Friday.

Attorneys for media companies including The Associated Press sought to have the files unsealed and an appeals court agreed Thursday.

Read more...

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Long-distance runners are water-obsessed by necessity, but Mina Guli is on another level. She's trying to run more than 1,000 miles through seven deserts on seven continents in seven weeks to raise awareness of worldwide water shortages.

She has completed six of the runs, having jogged an average of 150 miles each through harsh conditions in Spain, Jordan, Antarctica, Australia, South Africa and Chile.

Now, the Australian is in drought-stricken California to run her final leg through Death Valley and into Nevada. She hopes to finish Tuesday, which the United Nations has designated World Water Day.

If she does, she will have run the equivalent of 40 marathons.

Guli said she was feeling tired but inspired as she spoke to The Associated Press by phone in Santiago, Chile, where she was boarding a flight to Los Angeles on Thursday.

"I'm excited about the momentum we've created," the 45-year-old said. "Rest has been few and far between. I really want to do this in seven weeks, so it's been a rush. A lot of time is spent flying, driving into deserts. They're not always on the doorsteps of big cities."

In Jordan, on the second leg of the trek, Guli said she almost made her point about water shortages too well. She planned to use local water supplies along the way but faced a taxing set of days when there was little of the precious liquid to be had.

"The wells are dry," she said. "Jordan is having major water problems. Places where you expect to get water, you don't get water anymore. Even places where people assured me there would be water to find, there was none."

From there Guli made the otherworldly transition to snow-white Antarctica, whose meager precipitation makes it the world's largest desert.

"It is white from the sky to the ground," she said. "The only sound you can hear is your own heartbeat."

Guli, who now lives in Beijing and runs Thirst, a nonprofit dedicated to water issues, said it was almost frustrating to be atop all that ice.

"You're standing and running on all this fresh water that is inaccessible to the rest of the planet," she said.

From there came another drastic change, in temperature and scenery, to the red sands of central Australia's Simpson Desert.

Guli's desire to run during the day and stay on local time so she can meet and talk to people about water has made things especially complicated.

"Jet lag has been a major issue each time we've had a big time-zone change: between Australia and South Africa, I found that extremely challenging," she said. "I felt like I was running with lead weights around my ankles."

Read more...

NEW YORK (AP) — Police and the FBI are investigating a threatening letter sent to the Manhattan apartment of Donald Trump's son Eric that contained a white powder, two law enforcement officials said Friday.

Preliminary tests on the substance in the envelope sent to Eric Trump's apartment Thursday indicated it was not hazardous, according to the officials, who were not authorized to disclose details of the threat and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

The handwritten letter was postmarked March 5 from Boston and referenced Donald Trump's presidential bid.

The letter said: "If your father does not drop out of the race, the next envelope won't be a fake." It was signed "X," according to one of the law enforcement officials, who had seen the letter.

In a statement, the New York Police Department confirmed that it had responded to a Trump building overlooking Central Park to investigate a suspicious letter received by a tenant but didn't name the recipient.

Eric Trump, 32, is one of five children of businessman and Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump. He has been campaigning for his father.

Donald Trump's representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

 

Read more...
The News Gram Online. All rights reserved.

Register

User Registration
or Cancel