The trial between former WWE superstar and reality TV honcho Hulk Hogan and Gawker Media has now been cinematically documented in the Netflix-released Nobody Speak: Trials of the Free Press. The contents of the case surround a sex tape that Gawker leaked of Hogan, inviting those with salacious attitudes to click their hearts away. It became the first celebrity sex tape case to go to trial and becomes more interesting is the concept that someone was behind Hogan’s lawsuit with a darker or deeper agenda than pulling a recorded sex act from the internet. Steadily, ideas of free press versus supreme billionaire power are brought to the surface, revealing the battle of free speech that journalism is still fighting.
However, the content itself might be more compelling than its presentation. We said in our review from Sundance, “Knappenberger crafts a compelling and infuriating tale of big money flouting freedom of speech in an era where freedom of speech (thanks in part to social media) has become more democratized and, perhaps, more dangerous than ever. The story, though, is so fast-moving that Nobody Speak, as artfully crafted and timely as it is, may in fact be old news by the time Netflix releases the film — hopefully sooner rather than later. When White House officials are calling the press an opposition party, the ways that Adelson and Thiel have silenced career journalists may in fact seem quaint by next month. Nobody Speak is a loud, clear warning, and a fascinating exploration of where we were just as we entered the post-truth era. I fear the inevitable sequel.”
See the trailer below, along with a synopsis.
Journalists are trained to look for stories behind the stories. The reporters investigating the Hulk Hogan sex tape and the sale of the Las Vegas Journal-Review, however, found something unprecedented: billionaires covertly using their fortunes to silence the media. Nobody Speak explores what Peter Thiel’s financial support of the lawsuit against Gawker and Sheldon Adelson’s shadowy purchase of Nevada’s largest newspaper mean for future of journalism, the First Amendment, and the power of the ultra wealthy.
Nobody Speak will hit Netflix on June 23rd.