Gawker’s former editor A.J. Daulerio was asked whether it was correct to say that any consideration of the human being on the other end of his story never entered his mind. His reply: “Correct.” Asked, point blank by the lawyer, “Had you known that Hulk Hogan would be emotionally distressed by this publication, you would have still published it, correct?” He replied simply, “Sure, yes” and later,
on the stand, claimed that caring about stuff like that was “not his job.” Asked whether he even cared when he posted it if it was actually Hogan in the blurry tape which he had blasted out to the world, Mr. Daulerio admitted that no, he did not.
In another instance, when asked during the trial whether there were any celebrity sex tapes he would not consider newsworthy, Mr. Daulerio replied that he might make an exception “if it were a child.” Under what age? 4. That’s right, Gawker’s former editor claims he only draws the line at the rape of a four year old.
He was joking, he later claimed. Except in practice and in real life, Mr. Daulerio (and the Gawker legal team) apparently don’t immediately draw the line for other possible cases of rape. Because in another instance, when the video of a purported rape had been posted on the site, Gawker’s editors
responded to pleas from the victim by saying “Blah, blah blah” and Mr. Daulerio refused to delete the post (until the decision was later reversed).
This really happened. An adult editor responsible for a site that draws over 37 million visitors a month considered this appropriate behavior. Asked about it under oath, when he had every incentive and motivation to present himself as positively as possible, he couldn’t even be bothered to defend himself! There are murderers and terrorists who manage to fake basic interpersonal skills under questioning better than that.