Report: New Gawker lawsuit rooted in Trump hair story
A Gawker deep dive into Donald Trump's hair -- which the news and gossip site speculated was a "$60,000 weave" -- has prompted a new kerfuffle between the embattled media giant and the lawyer of Hulk Hogan, the retired wrestler who took down Gawker Media with a lawsuit resulting a $140 million payout.
But this time, according to a New York Times report, Hogan lawyer Charles Harder is filing a complaint on behalf of another client: Ivari International, the hair restoration clinic that a Gawker reporters alleged was responsible for providing Trump with his trademark hairdo.
In a May investigation, Gawker claimed a "tipster" alerted them that "Trump's hair is not his own, costs tens of thousands of dollars for installation and upkeep, and comes from a man as mysterious as Trump is bombastic."
The article -- titled "Is Donald Trump's Hair a $60,000 Weave? A Gawker Investigation" -- explored at length the possibility that the presumptive GOP nominee underwent a process called a "microcylinder intervention" to get the mane he currently sports. It further tied Ivari International to an office location in Trump Tower in New York City.
Harder, however, charged that the Gawker article made "numerous false and defamatory statements about my clients," according to a New York Times report. Gawker, Harder claimed, invaded the privacy of owner Edward Ivari and has interfered "with actual and prospective business relations." The attorney further demanded Gawker retract the article.
Gawker, in its published response, stood by its investigation and shot back that Harder "does not offer any basis for contending a statement is false" or that the article was inaccurate.
Harder's law office is no stranger to the public scrutiny involved when it comes to spats with Gawker Media. Last month, news broke that technology billionaire Peter Thiel financially backed the high-profile lawsuit of Hulk Hogan against Gawker.
But it remains unclear whether Thiel, who will serve as a pledged delegate to Donald Trump during this summer's Republican convention in Cleveland, is behind the latest legal battle with Gawker Media.
Trump, for his part, has repeatedly maintained on the campaign trail that his hair is the real thing.
"It's my hair!" Trump exclaimed at an August in South Carolina, before asking an audience participant to come on stage and inspect his head. "I swear! Come here. Just come on up here. They're going to let you. You have to do an inspection -- this is getting crazy."