Gawker is Getting Another Re-Launch, Under a Former Gawker Editor
New York Times media writer Ben Smith, in an in-depth piece Sunday about the newsletter platform Substack, snuck in an interesting news tidbit among all the analysis of journalism and advances and which newsletters are most popular: Gawker, the famed celebrity and media gossip website, is coming back to life, again.
“Bustle Digital Group confirmed to me that it’s reviving the legendary blog Gawker under a former Gawker writer, Leah Finnegan,” Smith wrote in a parenthetical.
Finnegan, a former Gawker editor, confirmed the news on Twitter.
the rumors are true.. https://t.co/Askz7wy1zN
— Leah Finnegan (@leahfinnegan) April 11, 2021
Finnegan was previously features editor for Gawker, and left the website in 2015.
The latest iteration of Gawker is the website’s second attempt at a relaunch since filing for bankruptcy and shutting down in 2016 following a financially-devastating lawsuit by former wrestler Hulk Hogan. Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, successfully sued Gawker after the website released parts of a video in which Hogan appeared to be having sex with another man’s wife. The jury ultimately awarded Hogan $140 million in total damages.
PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel funded Hogan’s lawsuit against Gawker, in part because of a 2007 Gawker post outing him. Thiel was later reported to be considering buying Gawker, but didn’t. In 2018, Bustle owner Bryan Goldberg bought Gawker and planned for an early 2019 re-launch, but the effort stumbled and eventually stalled out.
When asked for comment, Bustle Digital Group confirmed to Mediaite that “Gawker is relaunching and will be spearheaded by Leah Finnegan as Editor in Chief,” but did not provide any additional information.
