Update!

Hulk Hogan Sex Tape Snippet Still on the Loose After Grappler Loses Bid for Injunction Against Gawker

Judge rejects the wrestling legend's request to order the gossip site to remove a clip of his now notorious video

By Josh Grossberg, Baker Machado Nov 15, 2012 8:20 PMTags
Hulk HoganPaul Hawthorne/Getty Images

UPDATE: On Jan. 3, 2013, Hogan's rep confirmed the wrestler's intent to move the complaint against Gawker to state court and a dismissal of his federal lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Tampa, Fla.
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Hulk Hogan will have to grapple with this one all on his own.

A federal judge has body slammed the wrestling icon's petition for an injunction against Gawker ordering it to remove a clip of his infamous sex tape from its website, saying Hogan failed to show how he suffered a hit to his good name.

In the ruling filed Nov. 13 in U.S. District Court in Tampa, a copy of which was obtained by E! News, Judge James Whittemore wrote that the WWE star, real name Terry Bollea, "failed to introduce evidence demonstrating that he would suffer irreparable harm if [Gawker is] not forced to remove the Video."

The judge added that despite any embarrassment Hogan might have felt from the public airing of the footage, any economic loss he might have suffered as a result is "difficult to quantify."

Furthermore, Whittemore noted that even if privacy concerns could justify a court order, "this is an example of where the proverbial 'cat is out of the bag' rendering injunctive relief ineffective in protecting" Bollea's privacy rights. Nor would the public interest be served by such an injunction, he argued.

Hogan sued Gawker Media last month for $100 million, accusing the site of invasion of privacy among other claims.

Gawker has since fired back in court papers that by the time they had gotten a hold of the leaked footage of the former Hogan Knows Best star's encounter with radio disc jockey Bubba the Love Sponge's ex, Heather Clem, the sex tape was already "national news."

Hulk's initial request for a temporary restraining order against the company was shot down last month.

Attorneys for Gawker Media and Bollea were unavailable for comment.