Gawker To Relaunch Under New NY-Based Publisher: Reports

NEW YORK — Hulk Hogan couldn't keep Gawker down for the count. The popular blog famously crippled by the former wrestler's lawsuit is set to come back next year under a new New York-based publisher, news reports say.

Bryan Goldberg, owner and CEO of Bustle Digital Group, plans to relaunch Gawker in the first half of 2019 and has hired Amanda Hale to lead it as publisher, Adweek and Variety reported Tuesday. Goldberg reportedly purchased the site last year after it declared bankruptcy in 2016.

"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 an emailed note to Bustle Digital Group staff, according to Adweek. "In so doing, we aim to create something new, vibrant, highly relevant, and worth visiting daily."

Hale most recently worked for the Outline, a news and culture website that just axed much of its staff last week, Variety reported. She's also reportedly worked for Talking Points Memo and the Nation.

Gawker declared bankruptcy after Hulk Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, successfully sued the site for publishing a video of him having sex. The suit, in which Bollea was awarded $140 million, was reportedly bankrolled by Peter Thiel, the Silicon Valley magnate whom Gawker outed as gay in 2007.

Goldberg reportedly told Bustle Digital Group staff that Gawker will be "completely distinct" from the New York City-based company's other properties, which include Bustle, Romper and Elite Daily. But the new Gawker will have access to BDG's technology, shared resources and business platform despite sitting in a separate corporate subsidary, Goldberg said, according to Variety.

(Lead image: Nick Denton, Gawker's founder, talks with his legal team during Hulk Hogan's lawsuit against the company in 2016. Photo by John Pendygraft-Pool/Getty Images)