Jury orders Gawker and publisher to pay Hulk Hogan $25 million in punitive damages

A Florida jury awarded punitive damages totaling $25 million on Monday in a second blow to Gawker, coming on top of the $115 million the online news outlet must pay for posting a sex tape of the former professional wrestler Hulk Hogan.

The six-person jury assessed Gawker $15 million in punitive damages. The media company's publisher and CEO, Nick Denton, was slapped with an additional $10 million.

Hogan sued the website for posting a video clip in 2012 featuring him having sex with the wife of his then-best friend, the radio shock jock Bubba the Love Sponge Clem.

The editor responsible for the post, A.J. Daulerio, was assessed $100,000 in punitive damages.

On Friday, the jury found that Gawker had violated Hogan's right to privacy and awarded Hogan $115 million for economic damage and emotional distress.

(Reporting by Letitia Stein; Editing by Alden Bentley, Bernard Orr)