In an op-ed published ahead of the deadline for bidding in Gawker Media’s bankruptcy auction Monday, billionaire Peter Thiel called for the protection of “individual dignity online” and accused the media company of exposing people’s sex lives for profit.
“All people deserve respect, and nobody’s sexuality should be made a public fixation,” the Silicon Valley titan, who was outed by Gawker in 2007, wrote in The New York Times.
“In my case, Gawker decided to make those choices for me,” he added. “I had begun coming out to people I knew, and I planned to continue on my own terms. Instead, Gawker violated my privacy and cashed in on it.”
The op-ed only briefly mentioned Thiel’s role in funding wrestler Hulk Hogan’s successful defamation lawsuit against Gawker for publishing Hogan’s sex tape, which ultimately bankrupted the media company. Thiel spent roughly $10 million bankrolling Hogan’s suit, which he said was about “deterrence” after Gawker’s “bullying.”
But Thiel described his support for Hogan’s suit in vague terms in the op-ed, saying only that he is “proud to have contributed financial support” and “would gladly support someone else in the same position.”
The law firm representing Hogan has reportedly worked for Gawker’s opposition in at least five federal lawsuits against the media company since 2013, although it is unclear whether Thiel has been involved in cases other than Hogan’s.
“Since sensitive information can sometimes be publicly relevant, exercising judgment is always part of the journalist’s profession,” Thiel wrote, adding: “It’s not for me to draw the line.”
This guy really pisses me off. Too much money, too much power and a Trump supporter to boot. I guess for him, greed Trumps gay.
“It’s not for me to draw the line. It’s just for me to use my money to enforce an invisible line which I’ve secretly defined in my head.”
The effect of this rule seems…somehow…chilling?
What a sanctimonious little diva you are Thiel…‘funny’ how no one is safe from YOU but you will ‘draw the line’ for those you deem worthy.
He has a right to be angry about being outed. Outing someone against their will is despicable. Sadly, he also has the right to fund lawsuit after lawsuit in an attempt to silence Gawker and anyone else he feels has done him wrong. But that is just as despicable as being outed.
That’s why he was a legitimate target: too much money and power, too much self-importance. Thiel deserved to be taken down a few notches.
I wonder if there isn’t some potential counter-suit under SLAPP. California has serious anti-SLAPP laws. That’s why Thiel tried to keep his participation a secret, if anyone had known he was funding the lawsuits, Gawker could have filed an anti-SLAPP motion and stopped the whole process.