While jurors sit in court next week for Hulk Hogan's sex-tape trial, they may get a glimpse at one of the former pro-wrestler's expanded body parts but, one thing they won't see is his diminishing hairline at the defense table.
Hogan’s $100 million sex-tape lawsuit against Gawker doesn’t begin until Monday, but a Florida judge has already ruled the 61-year-old WWE celebrity can wear a legendary piece of his persona to court — his bandanna.
The muscle-bound and mustached Hogan, famous for the head wear emblazoned with the “Hulkamania” nickname across his forehead, will be
able to wear one “plain bandanna,” Florida state court Judge Pamela Campbell has ruled.
Besides taking away part of the larger-than-life entertainer's signature look, the judge also mandated that Hogan will have to go by his birth name, Terry Bollea.
“There will be judicial serenity and calm, to which the parties are entitled,” Campbell told both sides while setting the trial’s ground rules.
She maintained that the trial "is not going to be a carnival."
Hogan sued Gawker after the New-York-based website published excerpts in a two-minute “highlights reel” from a 30-minute sex tape that showed the former WWE star having sex with the wife of radio shock-jock Bubba the Love Sponge Clem, once the wrestler’s best friend.
The Hulkster's legal team, which claims the video was shot without its client’s permission or knowledge, charges that its posting by Gawker was an invasion of privacy.
Gawker’s defense is that the Hulk has been dishing out details of his sex life for years. That was all before Gawker published anything, making it newsworthy and protected by the First Amendment, the defense maintains.
If Hogan wins and the jury, from his hometown of Tampa, awards him anything close to the $100 million, it could bankrupt Gawker.
Maybe then we'll get to see Hulk rip off his trademark tee.
