Your web browser is no longer supported. To improve your experience update it here

Gawker's final post before forced shutdown

By James Gorman • Producer
A Gawker reporter has bid an irreverent farewell to the controversial website, referencing one of the news source's most notorious headlines.
"F--- that alligator. Goodnight friends," Hudson Hongo wrote in a final post on the website which is preparing to shut down this week after 14 years of operation.
His signoff refers to a story the site published in mid-2015 about a Texas man killed in a lake by an alligator.
When warned about the presence of the large predator, the 28-year-old man reportedly told officials, "f--- that alligator," before jumping in the water, where he was attacked and killed almost immediately.
It was Gawkers' penchant for approaching even the biggest news stories with irreverence that saw it thrive after being founded in 2002 by Nick Denton.
Using the moto, "today's gossip is tomorrow's news," Gawker regularly targeted personalities and celebrities, many times throwing the proverbial ethics book out the window in the process.
It was this cavalier attitude which ultimately became the site's undoing after it published a private sex tape of Hulk Hogan with his former friend, Bubba The Love Sponge's ex-wife, Heather Clem in 2012.
The video was viewed more than seven million times.
Hulk Hogan successfully sued Gawker for $182 million.
Hogan sued Gawker for $134 million, which led to a bizarre and lengthy trial, that included Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, having to admit to a court that he didn't have a "10-inch penis," after defence lawyers for Gawker sought to argue the wrestler’s bragging indicated he’d chosen to make his private life public.
The former wrestler was awarded a $182 million payout from Gawker, leading the company and Denton to file for bankruptcy.
Gawker's publication ethically devoid stories appeared to know no bounds with dozens of articles bringing the website into the controversial limelight.
In 2007, Gawker published an article outing PayPal's founder as a homosexual, titled, "Peter Thiel is totally gay, people."
In 2015, the website published an article that alleged the CFO of Conde Nast, David Geithner, solicited sex from a male porn star.
And in 2008, Gawker examined Tom Cruise's role in the Scientology Church using a video clip of the actor preaching.
After a cease and desist letter form the church, all other website removed the video except for Gawker, who instead posted and mocked the legal letter sent by the church's lawyers.
CONTACT US

Send your stories to contact@9news.com.au

Property News: This $35 million-plus property is already being called one of the most iconic yet, and it doesn't even have a house on it.