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Florida Jury Hands Hulk Hogan a $115 Million Victory in the Gawker Sex Tape Trial

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8 years ago

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Round one in the Hulk Hogan/Gawker sex tape trial goes to the wrestler: A Florida jury found decisively in his favor, and says the website owes him at least $115 million in damages.

The jury will likely increase the award next week, when it plans to announce punitive damages in the case, which stems from Gawker’s 2012 publication of an excerpt of a sex tape featuring Hogan.

This is the worst-case scenario that Gawker Media owner Nick Denton had sketched out last summer, when the case was first supposed to go to trial.

Denton and his legal team have said, over and over, that they assumed they would lose the first round of the privacy case, and would then have to appeal it.

But they were hoping that damages would be much less than the $100 million that Terry Bollea — the wrestler who performs as Hogan — was seeking. Gawker had previously tried to settle the case with Hogan’s team by offering a payout of several million dollars.

The prospect of a giant award was one of the reasons Denton sold a stake in his company to Columbus Nova Technology Partners earlier this year — the first time he has ever taken outside investment.

Here’s Denton’s comment, sent via a PR rep, which echoed a comment Gawker had sent out this afternoon, before the verdict came in: “Given key evidence and the most important witness were both improperly withheld from this jury, we all knew the appeals court will need to resolve the case. I want to thank our lawyers for their outstanding work and am confident that we would have prevailed at trial if we had been allowed to present the full case to the jury. That’s why we feel very positive about the appeal that we have already begun preparing, as we expect to win this case ultimately.”

The case itself is relatively straightforward: Gawker Media has argued that it had the right to show a video of Hogan having sex with Heather Cole, who at the time of the taping was married to radio broadcaster Bubba “The Love Sponge” Clem, because the video itself was newsworthy and Hogan was a public figure.

And Hogan’s legal team has argued that showing the tape had no journalistic value and invaded his privacy.

That’s also a good summary of the meta conversation surrounding the trial: In an age when anyone with access to the Internet is a publisher, how do you balance the right to free speech with the right of privacy?

Throughout the week, there’s also been a private conversation going on among media types who were following the case closely and talking about it in person and in Slack rooms. Some worried about the effects of a verdict against Gawker, and others expressed more than a little schadenfreude about the prospect of seeing Denton and the site slapped down.

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Davido kicks as producer Napji calls him out over unpaid royalties

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1 day ago

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April 24, 2024 6:47 am

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Davido, the Nigerian singer, has reacted to a claim by Napji, the music producer, that he has yet to complete his payment for “royalties and publishing”.

In an X post on Tuesday, the producer claimed the singer has yet to pay him fully for producing three songs off his 2020 album ‘A Better Time’.

Napji, who claimed to have produced ‘Fem’, ‘Jowo’, and ‘Sunlight’, added that he would release more details soon.

“I am Napji, producer behind Fem, Jowo and sunlight on @davido album (A better time) which was released 13th November 2020,” he wrote.

“I was paid an advance of 500 thousand naira for each of the songs. I will be releasing more information as I seek to collect my royalties & publishing.”

In his reaction, Davido, who neither denied nor confirmed the claim, hurled insults at Napji.

The Afrobeats star had faced similar accusations in the past.

In August 2023, Alabi Adetutu, the Nigerian model, accused Davido of owing her for her role in ‘Wonder Woman’ visuals.

In 2022, Dammy Krane, the singer, also called out Davido to pay him for his contribution to the hit song ‘Pere’.

Krane said despite co-writing the 2017 hit song — which featured Rae Sremmurd and rapper Young Thug — “Davido is yet to pay my outstanding fee”.

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Tyla praises Tems for opening door of global recognition for female artistes in Africa

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2 days ago

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April 23, 2024 9:40 am

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Tyla, the South African singer, says Tems, the Nigerian songstress, paved the way for global recognition of female African artistes.

The music stars recently joined forces on ‘No.1’, a song off Tyla’s self titled album.

In a recent interview on Kiss Fresh FM, Tyla described Tems as an “amazing” singer who opened doors for African female artistes globally.

She also expressed gratitude for the opportunity to collaborate with her.

“Amazing. Tems is so talented. She is literally a force. I am so honoured to have worked with her. She has opened so many doors for us,” she said.

“We made such a beautiful song with such a beautiful message. It is a song for the girls and it is made by the girls.”

In 2023, Tyla revealed Tems inspires her as an African artiste.

In response, Tems graciously accepted the accolades, and expressed confidence that Tyla is similarly empowering young South African girls through her music.

“Man, it is an honour, I am very very, 100% sure that she’s inspiring many many many many South African babe, many girls around the world as well”, she said.

Both artistes have continued to enjoy fame globally for their talents.

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Music producer Dr Roy calls out Mercy Chinwo over unpaid debt (Video)

Published

3 days ago

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April 22, 2024 10:33 am

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A Nigerian music producer identified as Dr Roy in a video breaks into tears as he narrates his ordeal while working with gospel singer Mercy Chinwo.

The middle-aged Nigerian music producer tearfully calls out gospel singer Mercy Chinwo over unpaid debt.

Dr Roy made this call out while featuring as a guest on the audio-visual podcast “The Honest Bunch: hosted by media personality Nedu and co-podcasters.

According to Dr Roy, he used to work with gospel singer Mercy Chiwno till 5 am then wake up by 7 am everyday in a back to back manner.

Speaking further, Dr Roy asserts that he produced, Excess Love, Omekannaya, Regular, Receive it and more for Mercy Chinwo and she never paid him.

Dr Roy further breaks into tears while on the podcast as he stressed that he was working hard while with Mercy Chinwo thinking he would make millions to feed his family but she left her with nothing but unpaid debt.

He noted that there was a time he informed Mercy Chinwo that his father had a stroke and she should assist him but she responded by saying “Make I no worry, he would be fine.”

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Bodex F. Hungbo, SPMIIM is a multiple award-winning Nigerian Digital Media Practitioner, Digital Strategist, PR consultant, Brand and Event Expert, Tv Presenter, Tier-A Blogger/Influencer, and a top cobbler in Nigeria.

She has widespread experiences across different professions and skills, which includes experiences in; Marketing, Media, Broadcasting, Brand and Event Management, Administration and Management with prior stints at MTN, NAPIMS-NNPC, GLOBAL FLEET OIL AND GAS, LTV, Silverbird and a host of others

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