Yup. Gawker was victim of a targeted assassination. Sure, their editor gave a truly disastrous deposition which probably directly caused them to lose that particular case more than any other single factor, but if it hadn’t been that case, it would have been the next fact pattern where a well funded opposition would have even a slim chance at nailing them to the wall.

There’s plenty Gawker did that I didn’t like or didn’t care for, but as a proponent of free speech, I see nothing positive about them losing that shit.