Hulk Hogan awarded another $25 million in sex tape suit

Former wrestler Hulk Hogan has won another $25 million (£17.4 million) in damages as part of his huge sex tape legal victory.

The fighter-turned-film and TV star was awarded a whopping $115 million (£80 million) by jury members in a Tampa, Florida court on Friday (18Mar16), after he sued Gawker Media bosses for a sex tape editors published without his permission in 2012.

The intimate footage featured Hogan, real name Terry Bollea, sleeping with a friend's wife at their home in Florida back in 2007. The athlete insisted he had no idea he was being recorded and sued Gawker, its founder Nick Denton and ex-editor A.J. Daulerio for $100 million (£69.6 million), but the jurors decided that wasn't enough, and they added $15 million (£10.4 million) to his haul.

To view this media, you need an HTML5 capable device or download the Adobe Flash player.

www.adobe.com/go/getflashplayer

Hogan, 62, walked away on Friday with $55 million (£38 million) for economic injuries and $60 million (£42 million) for emotional distress.

The two parties returned to court on Monday (21Mar16) as the jury members continued to deliberate over punitive damages, and they subsequently bumped Hogan's haul by another $25 million (£17.4 million), with Gawker company chiefs responsible for $15 million (£10.4 million) and owner Denton taking the hit for the remaining $10 million (£7 million).

The additional sum was awarded hours after Gawker's lawyer pleaded for leniency, insisting Friday's verdict was already "debilitating" for the company, while Hogan's attorney, Kenneth Turkel, insisted it was the jury's chance to punish recklessness and send a message to other media firms, according to The Associated Press.

Hogan has yet to comment on his latest court win, but after Friday's proceedings, he took to Twitter to boast, "Told ya I was gonna slam another giant HH".

Meanwhile, Hogan's ex-wife Linda has admitted the wrestling icon's financial windfall has left a bad taste in her mouth.

"It made me a little bit sick," Linda, 56, told Inside Edition. "I don't know how he can sleep at night getting that money for doing what he did in a roundabout way. It's dirty money."

Linda, who split from Hogan in 2007 after 25 years of marriage, added the verdict is "kind of like saying he is being rewarded for bad behavior."