Shep Smith Is Seemingly Giddy That Gawker Could Go Out of Business Due to Hulk Hogan Lawsuit

Fox News anchor Shepard Smith seemed quite giddy Monday at the prospect of liberal-leaning Gawker Media forking over large sums of money after losing a lawsuit to professional wrestler Hulk Hogan.

His seemingly gleeful demeanor might be due to the fact that he has been the subject of a few Gawker exposés himself. The publication has written about his personal life in the past.

Hogan sued the publication for posting without his permission  a 2012 recording of him having sex with his friend's wife. During the trial last week, the jurors awarded Hogan $115 million — $55 million for economic injuries and $60 million for emotional distress.

"Gawker’s lawyer had argued that Hulk Hogan’s sex life was fair game, but jurors determined that posting the video was a violation of privacy," Smith said gleefully.

After Smith was off the air, a jury awarded Hogan an additional $25 million to Hogan for punitive damages.

Gawker's founder Nick Denton, who has to pay $10 million of his own money to Hogan, said a large debt to the wrestler "would put Gawker out of business," Smith reported.

"And that, some say, would be fantastic," Smith continued with a smile.

Though he didn't say it outright, it appeared that "some" included the Fox News host himself.

Over all, Smith didn't appear to be too upset about the financial trouble into which these developments might put the news site.

—

Follow the author of this story on Twitter:

Follow @tregp