Gawker to close again as parent company BDG lays off 8% of employees

The Snark is dead again!

Gawker — an irreverent news and gossip website that was resurrected in 2021 after it was forced to shut down after losing a $140 million lawsuit filed by wrestler Hulk Hogan over the publication of his sex tape — is shutting down for the second time.

Brian Goldberg, the controversial CEO of Bustle Digital Group, announced on Wednesday that he is ditching the money-losing site as part of a broader reshuffle at his media company.

BDG is cutting 8% of its 700-person workforce across publications including lifestyle publications Bustle, Elite Daily, W Magazine and Nylon.

“We spent real money on [Gawker]. The annual budget was in the millions and it worked at a financial loss,” Goldberg told The Post on Wednesday. “Revenue is almost zero. We were passionate about it and covered the losses at the expense of other facilities.”

Goldberg, who famously spent $1.4 million in 2021 to buy a three-cornered hat worn by French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, bought the defunct Gawker for $1.35 million at auction in 2018.

“It has always been risky; it was bold, but we knew it would take a long time to get going and it’s more difficult now,” Goldberg said. “It was a different era when we bought the property in 2018. Today the world is unrecognizable.”

The site’s controversial past has hindered its ability to have an impact, a source familiar with the situation told The Post.

“Gawker came in with too much baggage and it was impossible to sell ads,” the source said.

“They were also not allowed to write anything political or even remotely controversial that killed the spirit of what it once was.”

Goldberg blamed the economic downturn for forcing his hand, telling The Post, “Advertisers don’t want to take risks right now.”

“We’ve hired talented editors and writers and launched a product that we’re proud of, but we just can’t afford to put more capital into it,” Goldberg added.

In a memo to BDG employees, Goldberg wrote: “After a successful fiscal 2022, we are facing an unexpectedly difficult first quarter of 2023. see the movement of the industry.

Gawker has hired about 11 employees, and all of them are likely to have to find new jobs, The Post has learned.

The site’s editor-in-chief Leah Finnegan broke the news to disheartened employees on Twitter on Wednesday.

“Well, after an incredible 1.5 years, BDG has decided Gawker 2.0 is over,” Finnegan wrote. “I can’t express in words how proud I am of this site and all the wonderful people who have worked on it, and what a staggering shame this is. I had an absolute blast and I love you.”

Goldberg didn’t expect Gawker 3.0 to come in the future.

“I don’t see any real opportunities for buyers at the moment, especially those who want to launch it as a media publication,” he said.

Social media users wasted no time in blaming Goldberg for shutting down Gawker.

“This man spent more on a Napoleon hat ($1.43 million) than on an onlooker ($1.35 million),” Lawrence Dunn wrote.

Another tweeted: “Anyone screwed up digital media in NYC more than Brian Goldberg?”

Created by UK-born Nick Denton in 2002, Gawker began as a New York City lifestyle and culture blog dedicated to celebrities and the press.

The site has gained a following for its scathing style of journalism, in which millennial writers used swear words while taking on powerful figures.

In 2007, Gawker published a blog post exposing tech billionaire Peter Thiel as a homosexual.

Thiel got his revenge by funding Hulk Hogan’s lawsuit against Gawker after the site posted a two-minute clip of the wrestler having sex with a friend’s wife.

Hogan won nine figures in 2016, including $115 million in damages and $25 million in punitive damages.

Gawker and Hogan eventually reached a $31 million settlement.

Thiel, co-founder of PayPal and one of Facebook’s early angels, later revealed he paid $10 million to help fund the lawsuits.

He said that financially supporting Hogan’s legal efforts was “one of my biggest charitable things I’ve done.”

Gawker was unable to pay back the large sum and ended up filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

His other websites, including Deadspin, Gizmodo, Jalopnik and Jezebel, were sold and the flagship site was closed.