When we heard this week that billionaire PayPal cofounder and early Facebook investor Peter Thiel, a Trump delegate, was the one who’s been bankrolling Hulk Hogan’s lawsuit against Gawker, here’s how we framed it:
“Let’s get ready to rumble! In this corner, weighing in at 11.7 million unique monthly global readers and an annual revenue of roughly $45 million, Nick Denton and Gawker Media. And in this corner, weighing in at 322lbs, the Hulkamaniac himself, Hulk Hogan…and billionaire gay libertarian Peter Thiel!”
Well it turns out we were onto something — in an open letter published on Gawker Thursday, Denton addresses Thiel directly for the first time in public, and among other things, challenges him to an “open and public debate.”
“For Silicon Valley, the media spotlight is a relatively recent phenomenon,” Denton writes. “Most executives and venture capitalists are accustomed to dealing with acquiescent trade journalists and a dazzled mainstream media, who will typically play along with embargoes, join in enthusiasm for new products, and hew to the authorized version of a story. They do not have the sophistication, and the thicker skins, of public figures in other older power centers such as New York, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.”
Later, he argues, “But this vindictive decade-long campaign is quite out of proportion to the hurt you claim. Your plaintiff’s lawyer, Charles Harder, has sued not just the company, but individual journalists…Peter, this is twisted. Even were you to succeed in bankrupting Gawker Media, the writers you dislike, and me, just think what it will mean.”
How about we take this to the next level?
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“Now you show yourself as a thin-skinned billionaire who, despite all the success and public recognition that a person could dream of, seethes over criticism and plots behind the scenes to tie up his opponents in litigation he can afford better than they.”
Related: The Seven All Time Strangest Remarks From PayPal Billionaire Peter Thiel
Denton goes on to suggest there is an alternative to the messy court saga — one you might expect Thiel, a libertarian torch-bearer, to be more on board with:
I’m going to suggest an alternative approach. The best regulation for speech, in a free society, is more speech. We each claim to respect independent journalism, and liberty. We each have criticisms of the other’s methods and objectives. Now you have revealed yourself, let us have an open and public debate. The court cases will proceed as long as you fund them. And I am sure the war of headlines will continue. But, even if we put down weapons just for a brief truce, let us have a more constructive exchange.
Thiel was outed nine years ago by Denton’s media network; donating $10 million to Hulk Hogan’s lawsuit has been his retribution. He’s called his potential takedown of Gawker, “one of my greater philanthropic things that I’ve done.” (Boy, now we are really scared of his other causes.)
As Vanity Fair points out, that’s “more philanthropic, it seems, than the money he has donated to the free press nonprofit organization Committee to Protect Journalists.”
Denton has the right approach–more debate, not less. We’d pay to see Thiel publicly defend his views on outing, which he seems to totally misunderstand, probably because he came out late in life and spend so many years in a closet of his own making. First, let’s be clear, the Gawker journalist who wrote about Thiel’s homosexuality does not consider the story “outing” because when he wrote it almost a decade ago, Thiel was already open about being gay to a large circle of friends and colleagues, who discussed his sexuality with a broad range of other people outside that circle. (Queerty editors knew about it before Gawker had the guts to write about it.)
Here’s what the Gawker writer, Owen Thomas, says:
I did discuss his sexuality, but it was known to a wide circle who felt that it was not fit for discussion beyond that circle. I thought that attitude was retrograde and homophobic, and that informed my reporting. I believe that he was out and not in the closet.
That is exactly right. Even if the story were to be considered an “outing,” the motive was hardly malicious. In Thiel’s case, who would not want a brilliant entrepreneur and billionaire to be part of our team, one who could make a difference to young people struggling in their own closets? Because of his retrograde views on gay identify, Thiel mistakes a compliment, or at least a challenge to be better, for a personal attack. In fact, Thiel seems to have missed the last half century of LGBTQ history, in which the debate over outing, over private acts and public declarations, was essential to the stunning progress we have made toward full legal and social equality. Thiel, as a privileged, white billionaire, seems to see himself as above that debate, instead of clearly benefitting from it. It’s time he came down from his castle and joined the rest of us in a movement that libertarians in particular should support: Freedom.
But there’s something else about Thiel’s past that makes his position on speech and privacy particularly galling. As a student at Stanford in the late 1980s, Thiel was far less concerned about the privacy of his fellow students, particularly gay ones, and Thiel was suddenly a staunch advocate of speech. In one horrible incident, Keith Rabois, a friend of Thiel, was widely condemned for screaming, outside the residence of a dorm supervisor, “Faggot! Hope You die of AIDS.” In his 1995 book, The Diversity Myth, Thiel wrote, “Keith did not deserve the months of public condemnation and ostracism.” Rabois was forced to leave Stanford as a result of the incident, but Thiel was loyal to his friend, no matter how vile his behavior, later hiring Rabois as a vice president at PayPal.
The journalist who practically invented outing, Mike Signorile, puts it best in HuffPo:
Thiel has a lot confused here. Simply saying that a public figure who’s out and open to many people is gay is not wrong — nor is it even considered legally libelous, defamatory or an invasion of privacy in 2016 — or comparable to these cases. Claiming otherwise is, as Thomas says, just plain homophobic. Reporting on a public figure who has been open to many people as gay, and is out in public as such, is not the equivalent of reporting on private sexual activity, but rather is equivalent to reporting on a characteristic akin to religion or ethnicity, and certainly if someone has not gone to great lengths to hide such facts. And that’s why Thiel had to go and find other cases, such as Hogan’s, in order to take action against Gawker. If he tried to sue Gawker himself for his supposed “outing” it would surely be thrown out of court.
Denton is right. Peter, halt your funding of this dangerous lawsuit, and start talking publicly–and openly.
GC1985
Libertarians are compulsive liars and never have any sort of support for their arguments. This self hating lunatic will sue to shut other people down. He can’t stand being gay because his idiotic politics always come first. Must be a miserable existence. I am sure Thiel is a man of few friends and the ones he does have are antigay.
kzen64
hmmm, this lawsuit has nothing to do with outing, has to do with Hulk Hogan.
And it’s nobodies business to out someone else, no matter what the motives.
Dev.C
Never piss off a bitter queen worth billions.
Paco
How does any of this change what Gawker did to Hogan? Trying to take the heat off of them by changing the narrative to a debate about outing?
Kamuriie
Hey, Nick Denton. Here’s an “alternative approach”: Admit you were wrong, and that you wronged Peter. Maybe, y’know, then he won’t destroy you. Because you’re circling the drain, buddy, and nobody’s lamenting Gawker’s inevitable demise. Except, moronically, Queerty. Apparently.
Denton is an utter slimeball of a person, and you, Queerty, aren’t much better.
SteveDenver
Thiel + Trump Delegate = Imbecile
GC1985
@Kamuriie: Stop defending idiot Trump supporters. wasnt wrong.
GC1985
Denton wasn’t wrong about this slime ball.
StormNC
@kzen64: Agreed!!!
J.T.
The problem here is that they both have a point. Yes, Thiel is a thin-skinned, vindictive, spoiled billionaire. Some of his behavior — for instance, defending and supporting his homophobic buddy, Rabois — is despicable. But, at the same time, the lawsuit isn’t about Gawker outing him. It’s about Gawker trying to destroy Hulk Hogan, a gratuitous act of journalistic violence that deserved to be challenged. Let them both rot.
Chris
As usual, this sort of article misses the point: Thiel’s motivations are not germane to the lawsuit’s having won in court; nor for that matter is his being a Trump supporter. Even though both those points make me want to gag, they are irrelevant to the focus of Hulk Hogan’s suit which is that he (Hulk Hogan) had his personal privacy invaded.
Freedom of the press does not give the press license to cross boundaries involving private behavior. The same principle is at stake when women complain about the posting of nude selfies that were stolen from their cell phones.
mdbuck67
Denton is a sad shit track, and Queerty isn’t much better for rationalizing his despicable behavior. You want to rant about Silicon Valley being “not gay enough?” Fine, have at it. But there are other means than outing someone. If/when/how/where a person decides to come out should be their decision and NO ONE ELSE’S. PERIOD.
joeyty
Two rich people fighting. And who cares what that ugly UK Jew Nick Denton has to say? He’s another who couldn’t stay in London and has to be here in NYC turning it about as interesting as a Dunkin Donuts. A foreign invader, and destroyer. Hope his brakes go out.
Mack
One thing for sure, we’ll never find out the answer.
Stache
Someone pointed out the interesting contrast between Peter theil and Tim Cook who was also outed by Gawker. Cook owned and embraced it while Theil looks for revenge.
Of coarse Cook is surrounded by people that don’t care and support him while Theil is in the opposite situation where he has no real friends.
Stache
Must suck being a homocon but at least he’s rich.
PaulPisces
I’m really disappointed at Queerty’s stance on outing, especially since I really enjoy the site and its tone otherwise.
Yes, coming out is the most powerful tool we all have to advance LGBTQ civil rights, mostly because it makes clear we are not a concept, but a community made up of real, diverse individuals humans.
But forced outing has always been reserved for closeted people who have publicly worked against LGBTQ rights. Otherwise the power of coming out belongs to the individual, not to the media, not to the community, not to anyone else. Whatever we may think of Thiel’s wealth or motives, I haven’t seen anything to indicate that he falls into the same category as closeted gays who who are publicly anti-gay.
In this case I believe the media stole something that was not theirs to take: both Hulk Hogan’s and Peter Thiel’s privacy. And worse, only to make a buck.
joeyty
@PaulPisces: Aside from whether I agree or disagree with you on “outing” or this Thiel case in particular……never let yourself get disappointed with Queerty. This is also the site that practically cheered Don Imus coming down with cancer because he’d once said “nappy-headed hoes”, and stated that Northern Ireland was Catholic.
TrueWords
Unless the video was WIDELY released before Gawker showcased it (of which I DO NOT know as I did not follow the story that closely)…then YES Gawker WAS out to destroy, humiliate and embarrass Hulk Hogan…there is no other reason to post a video unless Gawker is going to make the claim that they were doing so under the guise of “sex education” for the mass….just because you have something in your possession that is between two consenting adults it does not give you carte blanche to disperse it…
As far as Thiel he has EVERY right to use his money the way he wants without as long as he was not debasing and/or oppressing someone and/or a group in the process…if he wants to bank roll cases that he deems unfair (which are not about the above criteria aforementioned that is his decision)..MORE POWER to him!!!
Peter actually does not “have” to explain why he supported Mr. Hogan; he does not have to explain why he felt the need to support them…that would be like someone being ANGRY that Jeff Bezos decided to help you remodel your home into the swankiest pad on the block and DEMANDING answers…
Denton decided that “click bait” was more important than ethical journalism and further opted for “fast journalism”…it is my understanding thou possibly limited that Hogan did not say that he did not make the tape…therefore opening up a debate…Denton should have opted for the higher ground but decided that he could swim in the depths of putrid actions…
MarionPaige
Isn’t it Hulk Hogan Denton should be offering to debate? And,
AFER! AFER! AFER!
All Thiel did was offer to finance a lawsuit that Hulk Hogan wanted to (and presumably was going to) pursue on his own,
Rob Reiner’s AFER went out in search of people to use as plaintiffs in marriage equality suits. Oh, but, that’s okay? Funny,
Some people see nothing wrong with whatever results in what THEY want.
Alistair Wiseman
@Stache:
“…he has no real friends.”
Really? I didn’t realize you two were so well acquainted.
Since you’re in his inner circle and know so much about him, please tell us what he is really like.
Baba Booey Fafa Fooey
@Dev.C: Self-loathing queen.
Baba Booey Fafa Fooey
@GC1985: Right on.
cabe
Signorile says it was okay to out Thiel because he is a public figure. Is a corporate executive really a public figure in the same way a celebrity is? I still think outing in general is horrible. First, its not of your business and secondly, it has a sinister
“A-HA” vibe to it where the goal is to embarrass the person simply for being gay and not out to the world
The only time I think outing is okay is when you have an anti-gay mega conservative who is closeted.
Lastly, didn’t Thiel put the end to PayPal’s plans for a new facility in NC? He cant be all that bad.
joeyty
@cabe: Yeah, but dopey Signorile also basically wants as many Muslim refugees allowed into the U.S. as possible, and actually believed the Rick Jones hoax of a phantom gaybasher stalking him throughout Utah. (I’m not arguing with you otherwise. I’m just saying Signorile has questionable credibility).
GC1985
@Alistair Wiseman: You homocons would sell the rest of us out for dollar. You are nothing more than a bunch of cowardly sellouts.
BigWill
Nick Denton is as lbig a dirtbag as he’s saying Thiel is. He approved a story that ran last year that basically abetted in the extortion of a private citizen. Denton, the writer, et al twisted themselves into pretzels trying to make the case that the person reported on (whose life could’ve been ruined and certainly was made extremely difficult by the shitty story) was a public figure (he isn’t, and that’s why I’m writing the name here).
There was an immediate avalanche of criticism across the board by people outraged Gawker would run such a story, and it was taken down; number of editors resigned in protest because it was removed.
Anyway, it was appalling. It was the last time I clicked on Gawker or any of its other sites. What they say about karma turns out to e true, eh, Nick?
mastik8
Denton is having the conversation/debate he wanted except this time there will be consequences. A debate in a court of law with consequences he may not want. Everyone has free speech but no one is free from the consequences of that same free speech.
Imperialist
If you wan to know what God thinks about money, look at the people he gave it to.
MarionPaige
Gawker Media’s corporate structure was seemingly created in anticipation of a lot of lawsuits, to the point that it is not even clear that the US based Gawker entities actually own anything. The last known owner of Gawker’s domain names was a Hungarian entity. At one time,
Gawker even had Cayman Island corporate entities … all of these convoluted foreign / offshore entities for a simple gossip blog? In short,
If you think you were harmed by Gawker, it takes a certain amount of expensive legal expertise just to figure out what Gawker to sue and, where you can sue them.
Even Hulk Hogan, with $10 million dollars of legal might available to him, has not yet managed to actually sue the company that owns Gawker’s domain name. In fact, it is not even clear that the “Gawkers” Hogan has a judgment against have any asset (other than dead links to old news stories).
Malibu Eric
Thiel may be an ass of billionaire proportions but you are supporting Nick Denton?! Seriously? Have you done any research? ‘Dirtbag’ sums it up quite succinctly.
Sweetie Pie
I give zero phucks for Gawker…zero, not one, people have the right to their privacy whether they are homo, hetero or pastasexual
The more I know the so-called gay “community” the least I want to have anything to do with it
GC1985
@Sweetie Pie: When someone makes it their mission to screw up the lives of others like what Thiel is doing… It is all fair game. Gawker has engaged in tactics in the past I don’t agree with at all, but when people like Thiel are supporting destructive policies, it is all fair game.
Hypocrisy needs to exposed, which runs rampant amongst libertarian and republican fools.
BigWill
@Malibu Eric: I too am surprised by QueerTy holding up Denton as a paragon of virtue. It’s like they don’t know anything about him or Gawker.
scott747
I think this article and your position is entirely wrong. It is one thing to out come Congressmen who has openly supported anti-gay legislation or banged the Bible in defense of demonizing gay men and women, it is quite another story altogether to out a private citizen who does not wish the fact to be known to the world at large. Of course, perhaps as a society we have eradicated all discrimination and violence against members of the LGBT community.
ChuckF
Thanks for your excellent journalism.
GC1985
@scott747: Yet that private citizen (Thiel) funnels millions to the GOP and funds anti-gay candidates and legislation… open your eyes please.
martinbakman
@GC1985: Sadly he’s not the only rich qween doing that. I’m just wondering how it is for a gay dude to be seated at a GOP convention with that ilk. Maybe the GOP has VIP seating for the really rich fvckers.
lcandela123
What rubbish. I get the feeling that there are only two or three writers of these exaggerated articles in the gay press. Always having titles like, “Person A destroys Person B”. Are you really that desperate for clicks? Denton didn’t destroy Thiel; he merely made some arguments.
GC1985
@martinbakman: The GOP is for sale at the highest bidder. The GOP is in the pocket of the Chinese Triads and Sheldon Adelson anyways. If anyone did a thorough investigation, many of them would be facing racketeering charges.
arthurb3
Ouch!!! How could any gay, woman, or human every be for the Republican Party?
arthurb3
By the way, internalized homophobia is such a destructive condition.