This may be hard to believe, but Hulk Hogan's lawsuit against Gawker Media over a leaked sex tape got even more uncomfortable Tuesday during the former pro wrestler's second day of testimony.
Hogan, 62, whose real name is Terry Bollea, admitted his past boasts about his sex life included embellished details and, in some cases, outright fabrications. He's lied about the size of his penis, he admitted Tuesday, but said he was acting as the character of Hulk Hogan.
Bolea sought to persuade jurors in his $100 million case against Gawker to distinguish between his public persona and his rights as a private civilian. His case heated up a day after ESPN sportscaster Erin Andrews won $55 million in a lawsuit over a secret recording of her undressing in a Nashville hotel.
"I was in character. I embellished a little bit about the number of women. I was totally Hulk Hogan -- I wasn't at home in my private house," Bollea testified, explaining his bragging, according to the New York Daily News.
Bollea alleged that the video Gawker published in 2012 showing him in flagrante delicto with the wife of a former friend was an invasion of privacy. The former friend, radio host Bubba "the Love Sponge" Clem, secretly shot the video.
The embarrassing revelations in Bollea's case came during his cross-examination by Gawker's attorney.
Gawker argues the sex video featuring Bollea and Clem's then-wife, along with its 1,400-word description of the footage, was newsworthy because Bollea embraced discussion of intimate details of his life on television and in interviews. Gawker's lawyer presented footage from Hogan's reality TV show showing him on the toilet on camera.
The case may have larger implications about privacy and freedom of the press. Though Bollea essentially acknowledged he has cultivated the image of someone who brags and is uninhibited, he said he tries to shield aspects of his life from public view.
“My problem is the videotape that you guys put out. It lives forever on the Internet,” he said, according to The New York Times.
The ordeal with Gawker has distressed him, he said.
"I would say I'm not the same person I was before all this craziness happened," he said, according to CNN.
In October, Gawker Media president Heather Dietrick told the media organization's staff she expected to lose the lawsuit.
