Hulk Hogan Granted Permission to Investigate Leak of Racist Rant

Former professional wrestling star Hulk Hogan's legal counsel was permitted Wednesday to investigate Gawker to determine whether the company's employees were responsible for leaking Hogan's racist remarks earlier this year.

Anna M. Phillips of the Tampa Bay Times reported on the order issued by Circuit Judge Pamela Campbell. The big takeaway from the order is the terms, "Hulk Hogan," "racist" and "DVD details" are permitted for investigators to search among Gawker employees' emails, text messages, computers and servers.

Gawker attorney Seth Berlin indicated his team will appeal the order, which won't go into action until next month, and said, "The order has no basis in law or fact." 

The company published a sex tape involving Hogan in 2012; the 61-year-old sued Gawker thereafter for $100 million, but the trial was pushed back to early 2016.

When a transcript of Hogan's racist rant from that tape surfaced this July from the National Enquirer, Hogan's contract with World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. was terminated.

Hogan's legal team is permitted to dig into the Gawker employees' records from the dates of June 26 to August 6 of this year to determine whether Gawker leaked the information to the Enquirer. Both parties have denied Gawker as the source of the leak.