Hogan's moral crusade

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Hulk Hogan: My Gawker fight is a moral crusade

Hulk Hogan's sex tape civil case against Gawker Media is a "moral" crusade for him.

The wrestling legend is seeking $100 million damages from the website after the news outlet posted a clip of him having sex with Heather Clem - the now ex-wife of his former friend Bubba 'The Love Sponge' Clem - online in October 2012.

He has had to take to the stand and give evidence at a court in St. Petersburg, Florida, this week, divulge private details about his sex life and the case has put strain on his relationship with his wife Jennifer McDaniel.

However, Hulk - real name Terry Bollea - has always felt taking Gawker to court was the right thing to do because he wants to see an end to this type of celebrity expose.

In an interview conducted before the court case began, the 'Rocky III' star told BANG Showbiz: "I think this type of journalism has no place (in society) and needs to stop.

"At first it was a business thing and I thought, 'Should I stop here? Or keep going?' And then it was more than that to me, then it became personal, so now it definitely is a moral issue."

Last year, Hulk's contract with WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) was terminated after a transcript from the sex tape recording - which was secretly made in 2007 when the wrestler was suffering from depression in the wake of his wife Linda Hogan filing for divorce - was leaked revealing him using the 'N-word' during a conversation about his daughter Brooke Hogan's then-boyfriend.

WWE, the company which he helped to turn into a global entertainment brand, cut all ties with him, even removing mentions of him from their official website.

If Hulk, 62, had never brought his civil case against Gawker - which is owned by Nick Denton - then the reputation-tarnishing transcript would most-likely have never have been revealed.

Even though the multi-time world champion knew what the consequences could be for him, Hulk - who has admitted he was at the lowest point in his life when he made his misguided comments and had contemplated suicide - has no regrets about taking his civil case to court and given the choice he would make the same decision again.

Asked if he regrets taking the case all the way to court, he said: "You know what? I've thought about that back and forth, back and forth, and it's a tough one because I knew the obstacles, I knew things that might happen and they did happen. It's a situation of you know who your friends are and I needed to understand the social environment and the political correctness we have now. But at the end of the day there's a lot of people out there doing stuff they shouldn't be doing and destroying lives and once I really dug into this and saw what my opponent (Gawker) was all about, I decided this type of thing just can't go on. I wouldn't change anything."

Hulk's case against Gawker is expected to last another two weeks.