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109-548: In 2016, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after damages of $ 140 million were awarded against the company as a result of the Hulk Hogan sex tape lawsuit . On August 16, 2016, all of the Gawker Media brands, assets except for Gawker.com , were acquired at auction by Univision Communications for $ 135 million. Two days later on August 18, the company announced that Gawker.com would cease operations

218-734: A 2005 study claimed the drop may have been due to an increase in the incorrect classification of many bankruptcies as "consumer cases" rather than "business cases". Cases involving more than US$ 50 million in assets are almost always handled in federal bankruptcy court, and not in bankruptcy-like state proceeding. The largest bankruptcy in history was of the US investment bank Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., which listed $ 639 billion in assets as of its Chapter 11 filing in 2008. The 16 largest corporate bankruptcies as of December 13, 2011 Enron, Lehman Brothers, MF Global and Refco have all ceased operations while others were acquired by other buyers or emerged as

327-588: A Gawker editor, posted a short clip of Hulk Hogan and Heather Clem, the estranged wife of radio personality Bubba the Love Sponge , having sex. Hogan (who went by his real name, Terry Gene Bollea, during the trial) sent Gawker a cease-and-desist order to take the video down, but Denton refused. Denton cited the First Amendment and argued the accompanying commentary had news value. Judge Pamela Campbell issued an injunction ordering Gawker to take down

436-403: A bankruptcy plan. The debtor in possession typically has the first opportunity to propose a plan during the period of exclusivity. This period allows the debtor 120 days from the date of filing for chapter 11 to propose a plan of reorganization before any other party in interest may propose a plan. If the debtor proposes a plan within the 120-day exclusivity period, a 180-day exclusivity period from

545-415: A bet that the redesigns would fail to bring in traffic, and Nick Denton took him up on it. The measure was the number of page views by October recorded on Quantcast . Page views after the redesign declined significantly—Gawker's sites had an 80% decrease in overall traffic immediately after the change and a 50% decrease over two weeks—with many users either leaving the site or viewing international versions of

654-423: A business is unable to service its debt or pay its creditors , the business or its creditors can file with a federal bankruptcy court for protection under either Chapter 7 or Chapter 11. In Chapter 7, the business ceases operations, a trustee sells all of its assets, and then distributes the proceeds to its creditors. Any residual amount is returned to the owners of the company. In Chapter 11, in most instances

763-422: A disclosure statement must be approved by the bankruptcy court. Once the disclosure statement is approved, the plan proponent will solicit votes from the classes of creditors. Solicitation is the process by which creditors vote on the proposed confirmation plan. This process can be complicated if creditors fail or refuse to vote. In which case, the plan proponent might tailor his or her efforts in obtaining votes, or

872-488: A federal judge ruled in favor of Gawker, noting that the plaintiff had correctly been deemed an intern instead of an employee and was the primary beneficiary of his relationship with Gawker Media. In June 2015, Gawker editorial staff voted to unionize. Employees joined the Writers Guild of America, East . Approximately three-quarters of employees eligible to vote voted in favor of the decision. Gawker staff announced

981-444: A first-person narrative by a former employee of British tabloid The Daily Mail which was critical of the journalistic standards and aggregation policies for its online presence. Daily Mail sued for defamation, stating the article contained "blatant, defamatory falsehoods intended to disparage The Mail ." In August 2016, it was reported that Gawker was in the final stages of settling the lawsuit." On October 4, 2012, AJ Daulerio,

1090-507: A higher price for divisions or other assets than a chapter 7 liquidation would be likely to achieve. Section 362(d) of the Bankruptcy Code allows the court to terminate, annul, or modify the continuation of the automatic stay as may be necessary or appropriate to balance the competing interests of the debtor, its estate, creditors, and other parties in interest and grants the bankruptcy court considerable flexibility to tailor relief to

1199-407: A large role in many proceedings. Chapter 11 usually results in reorganization of the debtor's business or personal assets and debts, but can also be used as a mechanism for liquidation. Debtors may "emerge" from a chapter 11 bankruptcy within a few months or within several years, depending on the size and complexity of the bankruptcy. The Bankruptcy Code accomplishes this objective through the use of

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1308-410: A major design change as part of the larger roll-out. Most notable was the absence of formerly present Twitter and StumbleUpon sharing buttons. Nick Denton explained that Facebook had been by far the biggest contributor to the site's traffic and that the other buttons cluttered the interface. This decision lasted three weeks, after which the buttons were reinstated, and more added. On 7 February 2011,

1417-537: A malware scam. Sorry if it crashed your computer". Gawker shared the correspondence between the scammers and it via Business Insider . On February 15, 2010, Gawker announced it had acquired CityFile, an online directory of celebrities and media personalities. Gawker's Editor-in-Chief Gabriel Snyder announced that he was being replaced by CityFile editor Remy Stern. On December 11, 2010, the Gawker group's 1.3 million commenter accounts and their entire website source code

1526-715: A new base of operations in Nolita in Manhattan. On April 14, 2008, Gawker.com announced that Gawker Media had sold three sites: Idolator , Gridskipper , and Wonkette . In a fall 2008 memo, Denton announced the layoff of "19 of our 133 editorial positions" at Valleywag , Consumerist , Fleshbot , and other sites, and the hiring of 10 new employees for the most commercially successful sites— Gizmodo , Kotaku , Lifehacker , and Gawker —and others which were deemed to promise similar commercial success ( Jezebel , io9 , Deadspin , and Jalopnik ). Denton also announced

1635-656: A new company with a similar name. ‡ The Enron assets were taken from the 10-Q filed on November 11, 2001. The company announced that the annual financials were under review at the time of filing for Chapter 11. Deadspin Deadspin is a sports blog owned by Lineup Publishing. Founded by Will Leitch in 2005, and originally based in Chicago, it was then sold to Gawker Media , Univision Communications and G/O Media . Lineup Publishing acquired it in March 2024, then laid off

1744-445: A picture of Duke University star Grayson Allen , which then prompted Deadspin to reply with "Go eat shit." In July 2017, Deadspin sparked controversy when in response to Senator John McCain 's brain cancer diagnosis, Deadspin ' s Twitter account tweeted that the website did not want to "hear another fucking word about John McCain unless he dies or does something useful for once." In March 2018, The Concourse posted

1853-399: A plan cannot be confirmed, the court may either convert the case to a liquidation under chapter 7, or, if in the best interests of the creditors and the estate, the case may be dismissed resulting in a return to the status quo before bankruptcy. If the case is dismissed, creditors will look to non-bankruptcy law in order to satisfy their claims. In order to proceed to the confirmation hearing,

1962-553: A position at New York magazine. He was replaced by A. J. Daulerio, former senior writer for the site. Author and journalist Drew Magary , formerly a frequent contributor to the site's comments section, joined as an editor and chief columnist in 2008. Time magazine named the site one of the 50 coolest websites of 2006. Deadspin was one of six websites that were purchased by Univision Communications in their acquisition of Gawker Media in August 2016. The Gizmodo Media Group

2071-583: A process through which some of the debtor corporation's debts may be discharged. Determinations as to which debts are discharged, and how equity and other entitlements are distributed to various groups of investors, are often based on a valuation of the reorganized business. Bankruptcy valuation is often highly contentious because it is both subjective and important to case outcomes. The methods of valuation used in bankruptcy have changed over time, generally tracking methods used in investment banking, Delaware corporate law, and corporate and academic finance, but with

2180-404: A profit. The trustee or debtor-in-possession normally rejects a contract or lease to transform damage claims arising from the nonperformance of those obligations into a prepetition claim. In some situations, rejection can also limit the damages that a contract counterparty can claim against the debtor. Chapter 11 follows the same priority scheme as other bankruptcy chapters. The priority structure

2289-421: A result of Petchesky's firing, at least 10 employees participated in a mass resignation on October 30. Among those who left were Ley, writers Albert Burneko, Kelsey McKinney, Patrick Redford, Lauren Theisen, Chris Thompson, and Laura Wagner. Moskovitz also announced her departure, though she had given her two weeks' notice the week prior. Comments on the site were subsequently disabled as well. The GMG union posted

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2398-535: A secured party with an interest in an aircraft the ability to take possession of the equipment within 60 days after a bankruptcy filing unless the airline cures all defaults. More specifically, the right of the lender to take possession of the secured equipment is not hampered by the automatic stay provisions of the Bankruptcy Code. In August 2019, the Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019 ("SBRA") added Subchapter V to Chapter 11 of

2507-481: A significant time lag. Chapter 11 retains many of the features present in all, or most, bankruptcy proceedings in the United States. It provides additional tools for debtors as well. Most importantly, 11 U.S.C.   § 1108 empowers the trustee to operate the debtor's business. In Chapter 11, unless a separate trustee is appointed for cause, the debtor, as debtor in possession, acts as trustee of

2616-420: A spouse or parent. Further, creditors may file with the court seeking relief from the automatic stay. If the business is insolvent , its debts exceed its assets and the business is unable to pay debts as they come due, the bankruptcy restructuring may result in the company's owners being left with nothing; instead, the owners' rights and interests are ended and the company's creditors are left with ownership of

2725-623: A statement saying: "Today, a number of our colleagues at Deadspin resigned from their positions. From the outset, CEO Jim Spanfeller has worked to undermine a successful site by curtailing its most well-read coverage because it makes him personally uncomfortable. This is not what journalism looks like, and this is not what editorial independence looks like. 'Stick to sports' is and always been a thinly veiled euphemism for 'don't speak truth to power.' In addition to being bad business, Spanfeller's actions are morally reprehensible." On October 31, Magary and Dan McQuade announced their departures. By November 1,

2834-565: A successful reorganization and retain control of the business and increase oversight and ensure a quick reorganization. A Subchapter V case contrasts from a traditional Chapter 11 in several key aspects: it is earmarked only for the "small business debtor" (as defined by the Bankruptcy Code), so, only a debtor can file a plan of reorganization . The SBRA requires the U.S. Trustee appoint a "subchapter V trustee" to every Subchapter V case to supervise and control estate funds, and facilitate

2943-565: A teenager, and the main source of the story said the report mischaracterized his comments. In response, Deadspin published an article entitled: "How Deadspin Fucked Up The Cory Gardner Story", stating: "we're sorry and embarrassed", it was "shitty" of them to have wronged Gardner, and "the only thing for us to do now is to eat shit." After Deadspin posted an article asking readers to post proof of Ted Cruz playing basketball, Cruz responded by jokingly tweeting

3052-466: A tool for escaping labor contracts, usually 30–35% of an airline's operating cost. Every major US airline has filed for Chapter 11 since 2002. In the space of 2 years (2002–2004) US Airways filed for bankruptcy twice leaving the AFL–CIO , pilot unions and other airline employees claiming the rules of Chapter 11 have helped turn the United States into a corporatocracy . The trustee or debtor-in-possession

3161-658: A unit of Univision. On August 18, 2016, Gawker.com , Gawker Media's flagship site, announced that it would be ceasing operations the week after. Univision continued to operate Gawker Media's six other websites, Deadspin , Gizmodo, Jalopnik , Jezebel , Kotaku , and Lifehacker . Gawker's article archive remains online, and its employees were transferred to the remaining six websites or elsewhere in Univision. On August 22, 2016, at 22:33 GMT, Denton posted Gawker's final article. On September 10, 2016, Univision removed six controversial posts from various Gawker Media sites, each with

3270-547: A video showcasing versions of a controversial "journalistic responsibility" promo being produced by television stations owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group , which helped bring mainstream attention to them. Deadspin ' s former last post each evening (before the October staff resignations), called DUAN ("Deadspin Up All Night"), was infamous for its occasionally viral and usually wildly diverse commentaries. Under

3379-572: A vote from a BBWAA writer which was "purchased" not through a cash payment to the writer, but instead to a charity of the writer's choice. On January 8, after the Hall of Fame voting was announced, Deadspin revealed that its voter was Miami Herald sportswriter Dan Le Batard . Le Batard was heavily criticized by fellow sportswriters for "selling" his vote. The BBWAA permanently revoked his Hall of Fame voting privileges and suspended his membership for one year. In 2014, Deadspin provided coverage of

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3488-469: A year. Combined with low operating costs—mostly web hosting fees and writer salaries—Denton was believed to be turning a healthy profit by 2006. In 2015, Gawker Media LLC released its audited revenue for the past five years. In 2010, its revenue was $ 20 million and operating income of $ 2.6 million. Gawker Media's revenues steadily increased through 2014 and its audited revenue for 2014 was $ 45 million with $ 6.5 million operating income. Business Insider valued

3597-421: Is available to every business , whether organized as a corporation , partnership or sole proprietorship , and to individuals, although it is most prominently used by corporate entities. In contrast, Chapter 7 governs the process of a liquidation bankruptcy, though liquidation may also occur under Chapter 11; while Chapter 13 provides a reorganization process for the majority of private individuals. When

3706-455: Is biracial. On January 22, 2022, Deadspin published a story criticizing then- San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel , who is biracial and whose father is Black, as "ticking off all the boxes to be the next trendy, young, white guy who takes a head coaching position [in the NFL] before one of the many deserving Black candidates." After the article's publication, an editor's note

3815-399: Is defined primarily by § 507 of the Bankruptcy Code ( 11 U.S.C.   § 507 ). As a general rule, administrative expenses (the actual, necessary expenses of preserving the bankruptcy estate, including expenses such as employee wages, and the cost of litigating the chapter 11 case) are paid first. Secured creditors —creditors who have a security interest , or collateral , in

3924-442: Is given the right, under § 365 of the Bankruptcy Code, subject to court approval, to assume or reject executory contracts and unexpired leases. The trustee or debtor-in-possession must assume or reject an executory contract in its entirety, unless some portion of it is severable. The trustee or debtor-in-possession normally assumes a contract or lease if it is needed to operate the reorganized business or if it can be assigned or sold at

4033-486: Is himself Native American. Holden's father, Raul Armenta Jr., is a member of the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Mission Indians , and his grandfather, Raul Armenta Sr., is a member of the tribe's Business Committee. On December 4, NewsNation reported that lawyers for Raul Armenta Jr. and Shannon Armenta had written to Deadspin demanding a retraction of Phillips' article and threatening further legal action against

4142-469: Is the airline industry in the United States; in 2006 over half the industry's seating capacity was on airlines that were in Chapter 11. These airlines were able to stop making debt payments, break their previously agreed upon labor union contracts, freeing up cash to expand routes or weather a price war against competitors — all with the bankruptcy court's approval. Studies on the impact of forestalling

4251-594: The Bollea v. Gawker case in Florida state court. In the filings, the company stated that it could not afford to pay the $ 140.1 million judgment or the $ 50 million appeal bond . The company's balance sheet at the time reflected total assets of $ 33.8 million ($ 5.3 million cash, $ 11.9 million accounts receivable , $ 12.5 million fixed assets ), total current liabilities of $ 27.7 million; and total long-term liabilities of $ 22.8 million. A bond broker stated in an affidavit that

4360-540: The 2012 season , was apparently a hoax. Deadspin found no evidence that the girlfriend had ever existed, much less died. A 2022 documentary, Untold: The Girlfriend Who Didn't Exist , features former staffers Timothy Burke and Jack Dickey speaking about the methods Deadspin used in exposing the hoax. Deadspin received attention for "buying" a vote for the Baseball Hall of Fame election in 2013. The site announced in late November 2013 that it had acquired

4469-562: The COVID-19 pandemic . Deadspin broke the story of NFL quarterback Brett Favre 's alleged sexual misconduct toward journalist Jenn Sterger . Deadspin also broke the story of Sarah Phillips, a reporter hired by ESPN who lied about her identity and credentials to staffers in order to gain employment. In 2013, Deadspin broke the news that the reported September 2012 death of the girlfriend of Notre Dame All-American linebacker Manti Te'o , which Te'o had said inspired him during

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4578-606: The Gamergate controversy , "expos[ing] a shocking view of sexism and harassment in the gaming industry to the wider public", according to Salon . On October 15, 2014, Deadspin published an article which alleged that Cory Gardner , the Republican who ran for the U.S. Senate in Colorado , had faked his high school football career. Later that day, Gardner tweeted photographic evidence of himself in his football uniform as

4687-760: The Kansas City Chiefs and the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium . Half of Armenta's face was painted black, and the other half was painted red, two of the Chiefs' team colors; Phillips, based on a photo that showed only the side of Armenta's face that was painted black, falsely accused him of wearing blackface . The article was headlined "The NFL needs to speak out against the Kansas City Chiefs fan in Black face, Native headdress"; in

4796-511: The United States Trustee , can request the court convert the case into a liquidation under chapter 7, or appoint a trustee to manage the debtor's business. The court will grant a motion to convert to chapter 7 or appoint a trustee if either of these actions is in the best interest of all creditors. Sometimes a company will liquidate under chapter 11 (perhaps in a 363 sale), in which the pre-existing management may be able to help get

4905-473: The "ad experience". The posts were subsequently removed by G/O Media management. The Gizmodo Media Group (GMG) union, which represents editors and writers across the G/O Media sites and is supported by Writers Guild of America, East , responded to the post removals with a statement that said, "We condemn this action in the strongest possible terms." According to The Wall Street Journal , G/O Media enabled

5014-482: The Bankruptcy Code. Subchapter V, which took effect in February 2020, is reserved exclusively for the small business debtor with the purpose of expediting bankruptcy procedure and economically resolving small business bankruptcy cases. Subchapter V retains many of the advantages of a traditional Chapter 11 case without the unnecessary procedural burdens and costs. It seeks to increase the debtor's ability to negotiate

5123-498: The FLSA and state labor laws. Although some interns had been paid, the court granted conditional certification of the collective action. In October 2014, a federal judge ruled that notices could be sent to unpaid interns throughout the company who could potentially want to join the lawsuit. A federal judge later found that the claims of interns who joined the suit as plaintiffs were outside the statute of limitations . On March 29, 2016,

5232-529: The Ripper " was able to quickly crack over 50% of the passwords from those records with crackable password hashes. Followers of Twitter accounts set up with the same email and password were spammed with advertisements. The Gnosis group notes that with the source code to the Gawker content management system they obtained, it will be easier to develop new exploits. As part of a planned overhaul of all Gawker Media sites, on 1 February 2011, some Gawker sites underwent

5341-423: The ads. Farmers ultimately backed out of the deal on October 30. That same week, G/O Media editorial director Paul Maidment sent a memo to Deadspin employees ordering them to discontinue any content not related to sports. He said that in order to "create as much great sports journalism" as possible, " Deadspin will write only about sports and that which is relevant to sports in some way." The GMG union called

5450-499: The article, Phillips wrote that Armenta had "found a way to hate Black people and the Native Americans at the same time," and accused his parents of teaching him racism. Deadspin posted the article on its X account, where it received over 18,000 replies and a Community Note explaining that it was false. Despite photographic evidence showing Armenta's entire face, Phillips stood by the article, writing in posts on X, "For

5559-485: The autoplaying ads in an attempt to fulfill the terms of an advertising deal it agreed to with Farmers Insurance Group . The companies had signed a deal worth $ 1 million that was planned to run from September 2019 – 2020 and required G/O Media to deliver 43.5 million impressions . However, after the first few weeks of the campaign, the G/O media and operations teams did not think they could meet that goal and subsequently enabled

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5668-412: The business. Chapter 11 affords the debtor in possession a number of mechanisms to restructure its business. A debtor in possession can acquire financing and loans on favorable terms by giving new lenders first priority on the business's earnings. The court may also permit the debtor in possession to reject and cancel contracts. Debtors are also protected from other litigation against the business through

5777-423: The chances of a successful outcome and sufficient debtor-in-possession financing may be unavailable during an economic recession. A preplanned, pre-agreed approach between the debtor and its creditors (sometimes called a pre-packaged bankruptcy ) may facilitate the desired result. A company undergoing Chapter 11 reorganization is effectively operating under the "protection" of the court until it emerges. An example

5886-434: The changes in the site's content "undermin[ing] the nearly two decades of work writers have put into building a profitable brand with an enormous, dedicated readership". On October 29, following the memo, staffers filled the site's front page with non-sports stories that had been among the site's most popular in the past; by that afternoon, interim editor-in-chief Barry Petchesky had been fired for "not sticking to sports." As

5995-510: The clip. In April 2013, Gawker wrote, "A judge told us to take down our Hulk Hogan sex tape post. We won't." It also stated that "we are refusing to comply" with the order of the circuit court judge. Hogan filed a lawsuit against Gawker and Denton for violating his privacy, asking for $ 100 million in damages. In May 2016, billionaire Peter Thiel confirmed in an interview with The New York Times that he had paid $ 10 million in legal expenses to finance several lawsuits brought by others, including

6104-404: The company at $ 250 million based upon its 2014 revenue. In early 2015, Denton stated that he planned to raise $ 15 million in debt from various banks so as not to dilute his equity stake in the company by accepting investments from venture capital firms. In June 2016, Gawker Media revealed its corporate finances in a motion for a stay of judgment pending appeal and accompanying affidavits filed in

6213-477: The company is incorporated. In the lawsuit, the Armentas described Phillips as "someone who makes his livelihood through vicious race-baiting," and said that the family had received "a barrage of hate," including threats against Holden's life, since the article's publication. On March 11, G/O Media CEO Jim Spanfeller announced that Deadspin had been sold to Malta -based media company Lineup Publishing, and that

6322-648: The company's book value was $ 10 million. In June 2016, at the time of the company's filing for bankruptcy, Denton had a 29.52% stake in the Gawker Media Group, and his family had another stake through a trust . Gawker Media was incorporated in Budapest , Hungary in 2002. The company was headquartered early on at Nick Denton's personal residence in the New York City neighborhood of SoHo , and it remained there until 2008. That year, he created

6431-497: The creditors' rights to enforce their security reach different conclusions. Chapter 11 cases dropped by 60% from 1991 to 2003. One 2007 study found this was because businesses were turning to bankruptcy-like proceedings under state law, rather than the federal bankruptcy proceedings, including those under chapter 11. Insolvency proceedings under state law, the study stated, are currently faster, less expensive, and more private, with some states not even requiring court filings. However,

6540-663: The current staff, who were laid off as a result of the sale. He said G/O was not actively looking to sell Deadspin , but that Lineup Publishing approached the company with an attractive offer. In April 2019, the Gizmodo Media Group was purchased by private equity firm Great Hill Partners and was renamed G/O Media , with Jim Spanfeller appointed as CEO. Greenwell resigned from Deadspin effective August 23, 2019. She said that dysfunction had been caused by corporate management. She also alleged that corporate management tried to intimidate Deadspin writers from reporting on

6649-404: The date of filing for chapter 11 is granted in order to allow the debtor to gain confirmation of the proposed plan. With some exceptions, the plan may be proposed by any party in interest. Interested creditors then vote for a plan. If the judge approves the reorganization plan and the creditors all agree, then the plan can be confirmed. If at least one class of creditors objects and votes against

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6758-444: The debtor does file a plan within the first 120 days, the exclusivity period is extended to 180 days after the order for relief for the debtor to seek acceptance of the plan by holders of claims and interests. If the judge approves the reorganization plan and the creditors all "agree", then the plan can be confirmed. §1129 of the Bankruptcy Code requires the bankruptcy court reach certain conclusions prior to "confirming" or "approving"

6867-430: The debtor remains in control of its business operations as a debtor in possession , and is subject to the oversight and jurisdiction of the court. A Chapter 11 bankruptcy will result in one of three outcomes for the debtor: reorganization, conversion to Chapter 7 bankruptcy, or dismissal. In order for a Chapter 11 debtor to reorganize, the debtor must file (and the court must confirm) a plan of reorganization. In effect,

6976-433: The debtor will be able to pay most administrative and priority claims (priority claims over unsecured claims ) on the effective date. Like other forms of bankruptcy, petitions filed under chapter 11 invoke the automatic stay of § 362. The automatic stay requires all creditors to cease collection attempts, and makes many post-petition debt collection efforts void or voidable. Under some circumstances, some creditors, or

7085-422: The debtor's property—will be paid before unsecured creditors. Unsecured creditors' claims are prioritized by § 507. For instance the claims of suppliers of products or employees of a company may be paid before other unsecured creditors are paid. Each priority level must be paid in full before the next lower priority level may receive payment. Section 1110 ( 11 U.S.C.   § 1110 ) generally provides

7194-537: The development of a consensual plan. It also eliminates automatic appointment of an official committee of unsecured creditors and abolishes quarterly fees usually paid to the U.S. Trustee throughout the case. Most notably, Subchapter V allows the small business owner to retain their equity in the business so long as the reorganization plan does not discriminate unfairly and is fair and equitable with respect to each class of claims or interests. The reorganization and court process may take an inordinate amount of time, limiting

7303-496: The dysfunction, and said that corporate management had undermined and been condescending to the site's senior staff. In late October 2019, the editorial staff across several G/O Media sites, including Deadspin , posted articles acknowledging complaints from readers about advertisements that were autoplaying with audio. The Deadspin post said that the editorial staff "are as upset with the current state of our site's user experience as [readers] are" but that they could not control

7412-491: The entire editorial staff. The blog is operational on 8 November, 2024. Deadspin posted daily previews, recaps, and commentaries of major sports stories, as well as sports-related anecdotes, rumors, and videos. In addition to covering sports, the site wrote about the media, pop culture , and politics, and published several non-sports sub-sections, including The Concourse and the humor blog Adequate Man. Contrasting with traditional sports updates of other outlets, Deadspin

7521-511: The entire staff of nearly 20 writers and editors had announced their resignations or already departed. U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders expressed his support for the editorial staff, tweeting, "I stand with the former @Deadspin workers who decided not to bow to the greed of private equity vultures like @JimSpanfeller. This is the kind of greed that is destroying journalism across the country, and together we are going to take them on". Maidment resigned from G/O Media on November 5, 2019, stating that it

7630-410: The exigencies of the circumstances. Relief from the automatic stay is generally sought by motion and, if opposed, is treated as a contested matter under Bankruptcy Rule 9014. A party seeking relief from the automatic stay must also pay the filing fee required by 28 U.S.C.A. § 1930(b). In the new millennium, airlines have fallen under intense scrutiny for what many see as abusing Chapter 11 bankruptcy as

7739-542: The following week, while its other sites will continue to operate. On September 21, 2016, Univision moved all of the Gawker Media properties to their newly created Gizmodo Media Group . Gizmodo was subsequently acquired by Great Hill Partners along with The Onion in 2019 under the G/O Media Inc. umbrella, reportedly for less than $ 50 million. While Denton has generally not gone into detail over Gawker Media's finances, he made statements in 2005 that downplayed

7848-439: The idiots in my mentions who are treating this as some harmless act because the other side of his face was painted red, I could make the argument that it makes it even worse...Y’all are the ones who hate Mexicans but wear sombreros on Cinco ." The posts were later deleted. On November 29, The Daily Beast reported that Armenta's mother, Shannon Armenta, had criticized Deadspin in a post on Facebook and revealed that Holden

7957-428: The imposition of an automatic stay . While the automatic stay is in place, creditors are stayed from any collection attempts or activities against the debtor in possession, and most litigation against the debtor is stayed, or put on hold, until it can be resolved in bankruptcy court, or resumed in its original venue. An example of proceedings that are not necessarily stayed automatically are family law proceedings against

8066-504: The journalistic line by promoting itself to the public as the first source to read the entire Screenplay illegally." On 22 June 2013, unpaid interns brought a Fair Labor Standards Act action against Gawker Media and founder Nick Denton. As plaintiffs, the interns claimed that their work at sites io9.com, Kotaku.com, Lifehacker.com, and Gawker.TV was "central to Gawker's business model as an Internet publisher," and that Gawker's failure to pay them minimum wage for their work therefore violated

8175-482: The jury awarded Hogan an additional $ 25 million in punitive damages, including $ 10 million from Denton personally. Denton said the company would appeal the verdict. On April 5, Gawker began the appeal process. On November 2, Gawker reached a $ 31 million settlement with Bollea and dropped the appeal. Following the Hulk Hogan lawsuit, Teresa Thomas, a former employee at Yahoo! , filed a lawsuit against Gawker alleging

8284-451: The lawsuit by Terry Bollea (Hogan) against Gawker Media. Thiel referred to his financial support of Bollea's case as "one of my greater philanthropic things that I've done." Thiel was reportedly motivated by anger over a 2007 Gawker article that had outed him as gay. During the Hogan lawsuit trial Daulerio told the court that he would consider a celebrity sex tape non-newsworthy if the subject

8393-475: The new staff, the site has occasionally drawn controversy for the quality of its reporting and editing. In 2021, critics claimed the site mishandled reporting related to a clash between Rachel Nichols and Maria Taylor at ESPN . Later that year, the site was criticized for calling ESPN anchor Sage Steele "the Black Candace Owens ." Owens, a conservative commentator, is Black, while Steele

8502-426: The newly reorganized company. All creditors are entitled to be heard by the court. The court is ultimately responsible for determining whether the proposed plan of reorganization complies with bankruptcy laws. One controversy that has broken out in bankruptcy courts concerns the proper amount of disclosure that the court and other parties are entitled to receive from the members of the creditor's committees that play

8611-553: The note: "This story is no longer available as it is the subject of pending litigation against the prior owners of this site." Chapter 11, Title 11, United States Code Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code ) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy ,

8720-488: The plan and making it binding on all parties in the case, most notably that the plan complies with applicable law and was proposed in good faith. The court must also find that the reorganization plan is feasible in that, unless the plan provides otherwise, the plan is not likely to be followed by further reorganization or liquidation. In a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the debtor corporation is typically recapitalized so that it emerges from bankruptcy with more equity and less debt,

8829-405: The plan and making it binding on all parties in the case. Most importantly, the bankruptcy court must find the plan (a) complies with applicable law, and (b) has been proposed in good faith. Furthermore, the court must determine whether the plan is "feasible, " in other words, the court must safeguard that confirming the plan will not yield to liquidation down the road. The plan must ensure that

8938-425: The plan is a compromise between the major stakeholders in the case, including the debtor and its creditors. Most Chapter 11 cases aim to confirm a plan, but that may not always be possible. If the judge approves the reorganization plan and the creditors all agree, then the plan can be confirmed. Section 1129 of the Bankruptcy Code requires the bankruptcy court reach certain conclusions prior to confirming or approving

9047-419: The plan is a compromise between the major stakeholders in the case, including, but not limited to the debtor and its creditors. Most chapter 11 cases aim to confirm a plan, but that may not always be possible. Section 1121(b) of the Bankruptcy Code provides for an exclusivity period in which only the debtor may file a plan of reorganization. This period lasts 120 days after the date of the order for relief, and if

9156-412: The plan itself. The plan may be modified before confirmation, so long as the modified plan meets all the requirements of Chapter 11. A chapter 11 case typically results in one of three outcomes: a reorganization; a conversion into chapter 7 liquidation, or it is dismissed. In order for a chapter 11 debtor to reorganize, they must file (and the court must confirm) a plan of reorganization. Simply put,

9265-411: The plan, it may nonetheless be confirmed if the requirements of cramdown are met. In order to be confirmed over the creditors' objection, the plan must not discriminate against that class of creditors, and the plan must be found fair and equitable to that class. Upon confirmation, the plan becomes binding and identifies the treatment of debts and operations of the business for the duration of the plan. If

9374-487: The post—marking the first time the website had "removed a significant news story for any reason other than factual error or legal settlement." Gawker's Executive Editor and Editor-in-Chief resigned after the story was dropped from Gawker's website. According to The Daily Beast , "a source familiar with the situation said Gawker ultimately paid the subject of the offending article a tidy undisclosed sum in order to avoid another lawsuit." In September 2015, Gawker published

9483-500: The previous year, according to Quantcast. As of March 23, 2012, commenting on any Gawker site required signing in with a Twitter, Facebook, or Google account. In January 2014, Quentin Tarantino filed a copyright lawsuit against Gawker Media for distribution of his 146-page script for The Hateful Eight . He claimed to have given the script to six trusted colleagues, including Bruce Dern , Tim Roth , and Michael Madsen . Due to

9592-443: The profit potential of blogs declaring that "[b]logs are likely to be better for readers than for capitalists. While I love the medium, I've always been skeptical about the value of blogs as businesses", on his personal site. In an article in the February 20, 2006 issue of New York Magazine , Jossip founder David Hauslaib estimated Gawker.com ' s annual advertising revenue to be at least $ 1 million, and possibly over $ 2 million

9701-400: The redesign was rolled out to the remainder of the Gawker sites. The launch was troubled due to server issues. Kotaku.com and io9.com failed to load, displaying links, but no main content, and opening different posts in different tabs did not work, either. The new look emphasised images and de-emphasised the reverse chronological ordering of posts that was typical of blogs. The biggest change was

9810-614: The sale, the site's entire staff was laid off. Deadspin was founded in December 2005 by editor-in-chief Will Leitch , an author and at that time a founding editor of the New York City-based culture website, "The Black Table", in his New York City apartment, where he wrote 40 blog posts a day. The blog joined the Gawker Media network of websites. Leitch announced on June 5, 2008, that he would be leaving to take

9919-407: The site said she was dating her boss, and therefore invaded her privacy and defamed her. On June 10, 2016, Gawker filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and reports suggested that the company might be negotiating with potential buyers, including a stalking horse offer from Ziff Davis for "under $ 100 million". On July 29, 2016, in a meeting with the courts, Denton was chastised for inflating

10028-500: The site, Phillips, G/O Media, and Great Hill Partners, which owns G/O Media. At some point on December 7, the original article was edited to remove photos of Holden; an editor's note was added to the article which read, in part, "Three years ago, the Chiefs banned fans from wearing headdresses in Arrowhead Stadium , as well as face painting that 'appropriates American Indian cultures and traditions.' The story’s intended focus

10137-554: The site, which hadn't switched to the new layout. On 28 February 2011, faced with declining traffic, Gawker sites allowed for visitors to choose between the new design and the old design for viewing the sites. Sorgatz was eventually determined to be the winner of the bet, as at the end of September, 2011, Gawker had only 500 million monthly views, not the 510 million it had had prior to the redesign. However, on 5 October 2011, site traffic returned to its pre-redesign numbers, and as of February 2012, site traffic had increased by 10 million over

10246-481: The spreading of his script, Tarantino told the media that he would not continue with the movie. "Gawker Media has made a business of predatory journalism, violating people's rights to make a buck," Tarantino said in his lawsuit. "This time they went too far. Rather than merely publishing a news story reporting that Plaintiff's screenplay may have been circulating in Hollywood without his permission, Gawker Media crossed

10355-486: The suspension of a bonus payment scheme based on pageviews, by which Gawker had paid $ 50,000 a month on the average to its staff, citing a need to generate advertising revenue as opposed to increasing traffic. He explained these decisions by referring to the 2008 credit crisis, but stated that the company was still profitable. In September 2008, Gawker reported 274 million pageviews. On November 12, 2008, Gawker announced that Valleywag would fold into Gawker.com . Consumerist

10464-482: The two-panel layout, consisting of one big story, and a list of headlines on the right. This was seen as an effort to increase the engagement of site visitors, by making the user experience more like that of television. The site redesign also allowed for users to create their own discussion pages, on Gawker's Kinja. Many commenters largely disliked the new design, which was in part attributed to lack of familiarity. Rex Sorgatz, designer of Mediaite and CMO of Vyou, issued

10573-413: The value of his equity in Gawker. The presiding judge stated that Denton informed the court that the value of his stock was valued at eighty-one million dollars. This valuation was used to give the court and Hogan the impression that Denton's stock would cover the majority of the money owed by the company. However, the stock was found to be valued at thirty million, and not the cited eighty-one million. In

10682-404: The vote on May 28, 2015. In July 2015, Gawker staff writer Jordan Sargent published an article attempting to " out " a married executive at Condé Nast , over a gay porn star's alleged text correspondence. The post sparked heavy criticism for outing the executive, both internally and from outsiders. Denton removed the story the next day, after Gawker Media's managing partnership voted 4-2 to remove

10791-411: The wake of this revelation, the court found that Denton had not acted in good faith, and issued an order stating that Hogan could begin seizing assets from Gawker. On August 16, 2016, Univision Communications paid $ 135 million at auction to acquire all of Gawker Media and its brands. This ended Gawker Media's fourteen years of operation as an independent company, as it was planned at that time to become

10900-406: The website's entire writing and editorial staff resigned due to conflicts with G/O Media management over a directive to " stick to sports " content only. Deadspin began publishing content again in March 2020. The site has suffered after the mass resignations, reportedly attracting only 10.22% of its previous readership. In March 2024, G/O Media sold Deadspin to Lineup Publishing; as a result of

11009-481: The week of April 20 , sponsored by a cannabis oil company. In July 2020, they subsequently announced a new subscription-based sports and culture website, Defector . The first new content posted to the Deadspin site following the resignations appeared on March 13, 2020, as new editor-in-chief Jim Rich announced that the website was building a new team. New articles began publishing earlier than planned due to

11118-483: Was appended to the piece and a tweet promoting the article was deleted, but none of the copy was changed. On February 6, 2022, the Miami Dolphins announced they had hired McDaniel as head coach. On November 27, 2023, Deadspin published an article written by Carron J. Phillips, centered on a photo of a boy, 9-year-old Holden Armenta, wearing a Native American war bonnet at the previous day's game between

11227-563: Was known for its irreverent, conversational tone, often injecting crude humor into its writing and taking a critical lens to the topics it covered. Over time, the site expanded into more investigative journalism and broke several stories, including the revelation of the Manti Te'o girlfriend hoax . Alumni writers of Deadspin have gone on to work for The New York Times , The Washington Post , and Sports Illustrated , and established Defector Media . During October and November 2019,

11336-490: Was released by a hacker group named Gnosis. Gawker issued an advisory notice stating: "Our user databases appear to have been compromised. The passwords were encrypted. But simple ones may be vulnerable to a brute-force attack. You should change your Gawker password and on any other sites on which you've used the same passwords". Gawker was found to be using DES-based crypt(3) password hashes with 12 bits of salt . Security researchers found that password cracking software " John

11445-453: Was sold to Consumers Union , which took over the site on January 1, 2009. On February 22, 2009, Gawker announced that Defamer.com would fold into Gawker.com . In October 2009, Gawker Media websites were infected with malware in the form of fake Suzuki advertisements. The exploits infected unprotected users with spyware and crashed infected computer's browsers. The network apologized by stating "Sorry About That. Our ad sales team fell for

11554-495: Was subsequently formed to operate the properties. The website's masthead consisted of editor-in-chief Megan Greenwell , managing editor Tom Ley, and senior editor Diana Moskovitz, along with a staff of full-time writers and regular contributors. On March 11, 2024, G/O Media CEO Jim Spanfeller told staff the site had been sold to the European startup Lineup Publishing. Spanfeller said the new owner would not be retaining any of

11663-462: Was the "right moment" to "pursue an entrepreneurial opportunity". On January 10, 2020, G/O Media announced its decision to move Deadspin operations from New York City to Chicago, where it would operate as part of The Onion . On January 31, 2020, Ley and several other former writers established Unnamed Temporary Sports Blog , an interim site sponsored by Dashlane that operated exclusively over Super Bowl LIV weekend. The site reopened for

11772-578: Was the NFL and its failure to extend those rules to the entire league. We regret any suggestion that we were attacking the fan or his family." The article's headline was also changed to "The NFL Must Ban Native Headdress And Culturally Insensitive Face Paint in the Stands (UPDATED)." On February 6, 2024, Raul Armenta Jr. and Shannon Armenta filed a lawsuit for defamation against G/O Media in Delaware , where

11881-448: Was under the age of four. Daulerio later told the court he was being flippant in his statements. In January 2016, Gawker Media received its first outside investment by selling a minority stake to Columbus Nova Technology Partners . Denton stated that the deal was reached in part to bolster its financial position in response to the Hogan case. On March 18, 2016, the jury awarded Hulk Hogan $ 115 million in compensatory damages. On March 21,

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