Variety: Gawker to Relaunch in '19

The media gossip blog Gawker, shut down two years ago, is springing back to life early next year, Variety reported Tuesday.

Bryan Goldberg, founder and CEO of Bustle Digital Group, paid $1.35 million for the remaining assets of the bankrupt site.

Lawsuits funded by Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel — angered by an old Gawker story that reported he was gay — led Gawker Media to file for bankruptcy and sell six of its websites to Univision for $135 million in 2016, Variety noted.

In particular, Thiel funded wrestler Hulk Hogan's invasion-of-privacy lawsuit against Gawker over a video the website posted showing the wrestler having sex with his ex-friend's wife; a jury awarded Hogan $140 million in damages.

"We won't recreate Gawker exactly as it was, but we will build upon Gawker’s legacy and triumphs — and learn from its missteps," Goldberg wrote in a memo to his Bustle staff. "In so doing, we aim to create something new, vibrant, highly relevant, and worth visiting daily."

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