Bill O’Reilly called Gawker “garbage” and praised Hulk Hogan for shutting down the controversial website on “The O’Reilly Factor” Tuesday night.
“Garbage finds its way out into the legitimate media,” O’Reilly said. “With the destruction of Gawker thanks to the heroism of Hulk Hogan, one’s down but 15 take their place.”
The Fox News hosts comment came during a discussion about America’s “cyberspace addiction,” the culture of trolling, and whether or not social media is causing a rise of hatred in America.
14-year-old Gawker.com was the center of controversy for years for its often snarky and gossipy coverage of the media landscape. Most recently, it has been under attack by Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel, who admitted earlier this year he was bankrolling lawsuits against the company in an attempt to shut down the site that he claims once outed him as gay.
In March, a jury awarded former professional wrestler Hulk Hogan a total of $140 million after Gawker published portions of a sex tape featuring the wrestler and the then-wife of his close friend, Todd “Bubba the Love Sponge” Clem. After awarding Hogan $115 million in damages in the Thiel-backed suit, the jury tacked on another $25 million in punitive damages.
The site has filed an appeal over the judgement but shut down operations on Monday.
Gawker founder Nick Denton authored one final story for the site on Monday, a post titled “How Things Work” set to serve as the blog’s last before it shuts down for good.
Named for one of the site’s popular tags, which Denton explains was attached to posts “revealing the sausage-making, the secret ways that power manifests itself,” the post reflects on the site’s history and downfall, comparing it to a news story Gawker itself would rabidly cover.
“Gawker will be missed,” Denton wrote. “But in dramatic terms, it is a fitting conclusion to this experiment in what happens when you let journalists say what they really think.”
Watch the entire segment below, which starts at the 16-minute mark.