Hiscox, media company settle over Hulk Hogan tapes

Hiscox Insurance Co. and a media company have settled litigation filed in connection with the dissemination of Hulk Hogan sex tapes.

Details of the settlement in Cox Enterprises Inc. v. Hiscox Insurance Co. were not revealed in Monday’s filing in U.S. District Court in Atlanta, and attorneys in the case did not respond to requests for comment.

In March 2016, a jury awarded the former wrestler $60 million for emotional distress and $55 million in economic damages in connection with the tape’s publication, forcing Gawker into bankruptcy.

Cox Radio and a current and a former employee of the company were named as defendants in that litigation. According to the complaint, the two men conspired to leak and sell information and excerpts from the footage and had anonymously sent a DVD containing some of the footage to Gawker’s editor.

Atlanta-based Cox filed suit against the unit of Hiscox Ltd. after the insurer refused to indemnify it for defense costs under its multimedia liability policy, which had a $500,000 self-insured retention.

In July 2020, the district court refused to dismiss Cox’s breach of contract and bad faith charges in the case.

Attorneys in the case had no comment or did not respond to a request for comment.