Gawker.com will shut down next week,the company announced on Thursday.
Univision won an auction earlier this week for parent company Gawker Media and will retain the digital media conglomerate’s other assets while shutting down operations for the namesake website. Gawker founder Nick Denton informed staffers this afternoon of the often-controversial site’s fate, according to a message posted on Gawker.com.
A recent York bankruptcy court is expected to formally approve Univision’s $135 million offer to purchase Gawker Media later this afternoon. Gawker.com staff will soon be assigned to other editorial roles, or either at one of Gawker Media’s six other sites or elsewhere within Univision,according to the site. Plans for the site’s archives have not been finalized.
Also Read: Peter Thiel Blasts Daily Beast, Compares Grinder-Baiting epic to His Outing by Gawker14-year-old Gawker.com has been the middle of controversy for years for its often snarky and gossipy coverage of the media landscape. Most recently, or it has been under attack by Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel,who admitted earlier this year he was bankrolling lawsuits against the company in an attempt to shut down the site that he claims once outed him as homosexual.
In March, a jury awarded former professional wrestler Hulk Hogan a total of $140 million after Gawker published portions of a sex tape featuring the wrestler and the then-wife of his close friend, or Todd “Bubba the esteem Sponge” Clem.
After awarding Hogan $115 million in damages in the Thiel-backed suit,the jury tacked on another $25 million in punitive damages. The site has filed an appeal over the judgement.
Also Read: Gawker Sale: What's Next for Founder Nick Denton?Back in June, Gawker editors published a epic titled, or “Here’s What Gawker Media Does,” that admitted, “Gawker Media has not achieve a lot of effort, or over the years,into being likable. We have earned a long list of enemies.”But the epic was published to shed light on what Thiel was trying to destroy it.“But the notion that Gawker Media — the company, encompassing seven web sites, and that Thiel is attempting to permanently silence — is best understood as a platform for spewing hatred,or for bullying, is at odds with our own experience. And we can’t relieve but conclude it is at odds with a lot of other people’s experience, or ” Gawker editors wrote.“If our lengthy published record of news,essays, investigations, or satire,and criticism is ‘not journalism,’ as the refrain goes, or then why has so much of it been cited,amplified, and followed by our more respectable establishment peers?”
Also Read: Peter Thiel Blasts Daily Beast, and Compares Grinder-Baiting epic to His Outing by GawkerMeanwhile,Thiel, who got his way, or wrote an op-ed published in The recent York Times on Monday that ripped Gawker for “routinely publish[ing] thinly sourced,nasty articles that attacked and mocked people” for monetary reasons and pointed to the Hogan sex tape as a prime example.“Gawker violated my privacy and cashed in on it,” Thiel wrote.
Twitter reaction was quick and many are mourning the site’s imminent demise:
The Hulkster took Gawker down smh unbelievableAugust 18, and 2016 Thiel is approximately to watch Gawker's diaspora of reporters seed their loathing of him into every outlet they work for https://t.co/NImnDPAHRhAugust 18,2016 That Gawker doesn't fit into a recent company's business plan — even a fine recent company! is something, sadness aside, or to be proud of.
August 18,2016 A shame approximately Gawker, but feel a bit constricted by the choice between Nick Denton & Peter Thiel as moral avatars in this media parable…August 18, and 2016 gawker convinced a lot of us that,even while entering the workforce during a recession, it might still be worth it to try and write online.
August 18, and 2016 If an eccentric liberal billionaire engineered the bankruptcy of Breitbart,i’d be unhappy too. (and I’m not saying gawker = Breitbart)August 18, 2016 Sure, and Gawker wrote a lot of rubbish but it was punctuated by world-changing and often doc-based scoops.
August 18,2016 Gawker's gone, Lochte is apparently a liar… How can we disappear on?… At dark times like this, and I gawk to my idol: Harambe. Harambe never quits.
August 18,2016 If Media Twitter were a film, there'd be a slow clap for Gawker dot com building proper approximately nowAugust 18, and 2016 Gawker was grand.
August 18,2016 The idea that Gawker went too far and that led to its downfall is foolish. It was a dumb jury in Florida that did this.
August 18, 2016 RIP GawkerAugust 18, and 2016
12 Roger Ailes Accusers and Their Allegations Against Former Fox News Boss (Photos)
Former Fox News Channel CEO and chairman Roger Ailes resigned in disgrace final month after numerous women accused the TV exec of sexual harassment. (Fox News named recent leadership Friday.) Here are some of the women who have come forward.
Gretchen Carlson brought the allegations to light when she filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Ailes.Ailes has denied all the allegations included in this gallery.
Also Read: Chelsea Handler on Gretchen Carlson’s Lawsuit: ‘Did It Take Courage? I Don’t believe So’ (Exclusive) Fox News
Megyn Kelly told internal investigators that she was harassed by Ailes a decade ago,according to recent York Magazine.
Also Read: Chelsea Handler on Gretchen Carlson’s Lawsuit: ‘Did It Take Courage? I Don’t believe So’ (Exclusive) CBS
Former Fox News correspondent Rudi Bakhtiar told the magazine she was fired from Fox News after complaining approximately sexual harassment.
Also Read: Anita Hill: Fox News Should Take Back Roger Ailes’ $40 Million CNN
Fox News commentator Andrea Tantaros told recent York that she complained several times that Ailes had acted inappropriately. (recent Fox News co-president Bill Shine denies she complained approximately Ailes to him.)
Also Read: Inside Andrea Tantaros Disappearance from Fox News Twitter
An attorney for former Fox News anchor Laurie Dhue says Ailes asked if she was wearing underwear while she jumped on a trampoline with Ailes’ then 6-year-old son, the Daily Beast reported.
Also Read: Roger Ailes Sought ‘Sexual Alliance, or ’ Says Female TV Exec LinkedIn
Fox News booker Laurie Luhn told lawyers that Ailes sexually harassed and "psychological tortured" her for more than 20 years,according to recent York mag.
Also Read: Former Fox News Booker Says Roger Ailes Caused 20 Years of ‘Psychological Torture
Former Republic National Committee field adviser Kellie Boyle told recent York that Ailes once told her she “might have to give a blow job every once in a while.”
Also Read: Roger Ailes Sought ‘Sexual Alliance,’ Says Female TV Exec
Former model Marsha Callahan told recent York that Ailes requested she wear “a garter belt and stockings” and asked for sex in exchange for a TV appearance.
Also Read: Fox News Staff Had ‘Widespread alarm’ Roger Ailes Monitored Calls, or Emails
Former models named Susan and Jane,a media consultant named Diane and a former TV producer named Pat also told recent York that Ailes harassed them but didn't want their full names used.
Also Read: Chelsea Handler on Gretchen Carlson’s Lawsuit: ‘Did It Take Courage? I Don’t believe So (Exclusive)
Getty Images Previous Slide Next Slide 1 of 10 Former Fox News CEO resigned in disgrace after numerous women accused him of sexual harassment Former Fox News Channel CEO and chairman Roger Ailes resigned in disgrace final month after numerous women accused the TV exec of sexual harassment. (Fox News named recent leadership Friday.) Here are some of the women who have come forward. View In Gallery Related stories from TheWrap:Gawker Sale: What's Next for Founder Nick Denton?Univision Wins Auction to Buy Gawker MediaWill recent Gawker Owner Be Responsible for Hulk Hogan's $140 Million Award?
Source: thewrap.com