Hulk Hogan and Gawker step into the wrestling ring in the new trailer for Sundance documentary “Nobody Speak: Trials of the Free Press.”
“Nobody Speak” premiered at Sundance earlier this year and will be released on Netflix June 23. When the online tabloid Gawker posted a surreptitiously filmed sex tape of professional wrestler Hulk Hogan, it ignited a high stakes legal battle that pit privacy rights against the first amendment.
The documentary covers the staggering verdict that bankrupted Gawker and its founder Nick Denton — a case that exposed a shadowy figure behind the scenes: Silicon Valley venture capitalist Peter Thiel. Nine years earlier Gawker had outed Thiel on its site as gay and the furious billionaire had been waiting for his chance to destroy them.
The Florida trial happened against the backdrop of a contentious election. Thiel’s battle with Gawker, along with Sheldon Adelson’s secretive purchase of the Las Vegas Review-Journal and President Trump’s treatment of journalists, portend a sinister trend threatening a free press and has brought to light a potential threat to democracy. Are the very wealthy thwarting the First Amendment to silence critics? In an age of extreme inequality, how vulnerable is a free press that has lost most of its traditional sources of income? Perhaps most frightening, what could a billionaire with the executive branch at his command do to those who have angered him?
“Nobody Speak: Trials of the Free Press” is directed and executive produced by Brian Knappenberger; produced by Luminant Media and SubLA; in association with The Filmmaker Fund and Field of Vision.
