Latest news with #Gawker
Bloomberg
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Bloomberg
The ‘Enhanced Games' Is the Ultimate MAGA Athletic Competition
The first thing Peter Thiel said to Aron D'Souza — according to D'Souza — was, 'I'm going to live forever.' That was in 2009, a few years before D'Souza, an Australian lawyer, helped Thiel, a PayPal co-founder and one of Silicon Valley's most influential men, bankrupt the gossip website Gawker via a lawsuit that hinged on a leaked sex tape of the wrestler Hulk Hogan. 'Is he correct?' D'Souza said of Thiel's confidence in his longevity. 'He's still alive, but I don't know, right? It's gonna take another 100 years to prove it.'
Sky News AU
05-06-2025
- Business
- Sky News AU
Elon Musk drops ‘really big bomb,' accuses Donald Trump of being in Epstein files as public brawl escalates
Elon Musk has gone low in his rapidly escalating feud with Trump, accusing him of withholding information about Jeffrey Epstein because it would implicate the President himself. Elon Musk went low in his rapidly escalating feud with President Trump Thursday, accusing him of withholding information from the public about the infamous sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein because it would implicate Trump himself. 'Time to drop the really big bomb,' Musk posted on X after a multi-hour tirade against the president. '@realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files.' 'That is the real reason they have not been made public,' he claimed. 'Have a nice day, DJT!' The Justice Department in February released more than 100 pages of Epstein's phone contacts and flight logs in a 'Phase One' disclosure that disappointed internet sleuths hoping for bombshell revelations. The disgraced financier's association with Trump has been known for years as the two were videotaped and photographed together at parties in the 1990s, and the initial batch of DOJ-released files only revealed the names of some family members — including Trump's first wife Ivana and daughter Ivanka — as Epstein contacts. Aides privately have acknowledged that the president's association with Epstein likely would resurface in a fuller release of files — though they don't believe that any alleged wrongdoing by Trump is described. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 5, 2025 The contact list and flight logs appeared to be pulled directly from Epstein's 'little black book,' one of which was made public in 2021 during his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell's trial and another of which was auctioned off. That 1990s-era contact list contains 349 names, 221 of which weren't included in a 2015 revealing of Epstein associates by the website Gawker. The black book being auctioned off reportedly contains 94 printed entries with 'black, hand-applied checkmarks, and five have been highlighted in yellow,' according to Alexander Historical Auctions. 'All five names, including that of Donald Trump, are well-recognized financial and industrial figures,' the online auctioneer's webpage notes. Online conspiracists have long speculated that high-power 'clients' of Epstein visited his private island Little St. James in the Caribbean, where many young women and underage girls were allegedly abused. Trump, former President Bill Clinton, Bill Gates and Prince Andrew are just some of the famous passengers the financier flew on other trips aboard his private plane, later nicknamed the 'Lolita Express.' Epstein was found dead with bedsheets around his neck in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan on Aug. 10, 2019, just over a month after his arrest on sex trafficking charges. Last September, Trump said he'd have 'no problem' releasing more official files related to Epstein if elected — including the deceased pedophile's so-called 'client list.' 'I don't think – I mean, I'm not involved,' he noted. 'I never went to his island, fortunately, but a lot of people did.' The president reportedly banned Epstein from Mar-a-Lago in 2007 over an incident with a club member's teen daughter. Attorney General Pam Bondi has demanded the complete files be turned over to the DOJ after hinting at the FBI's New York Field Office being 'in possession of thousands of pages of documents related to the investigation and indictment of Epstein.' The ravings of the world's richest man, who until last month led Trump's Department of Government Efficiency cost-cutting crusade, shocked official Washington and set off speculation about Musk's state of mind. One source close to the White House explained Musk's behavior by saying that he 'fundamentally has an unstable, uncontrollable element to his personality and he lashes out.' 'He's had similar outbursts when running his companies. Sometimes greatest strength can also be greatest weakness,' this person said. 'Revenge, yes. Also, he wanted not just [electric vehicle] mandates [in Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act] but a level of exclusivity for Tesla on the American EV market. And he didn't want fresh competitors like Faraday Future & others to cramp his style.' A second source close to the administration said there was a 50/50 chance Musk was either 'just throwing a temper tantrum' or 'creating distance [from Trump] thinking it'll help [Tesla] stock price.' Democrats grab popcornDemocrats watched the social media food fight with glee Thursday after months of flailing for traction amid unified Republican government in Washington — as Trump threatened to end billions in federal funding for SpaceX and Tesla, while Musk's opposition threatened to tank Trump's bill to implement campaign pledges to ax taxes on tips, overtime and Social Security. 'The Trump-Musk feud is like a reality TV episode of the 'Real Housewives', only with less stable people,' snarked Robert Zimmerman, a Democratic National Committeeman from New York. 'It is just further proof this is all personal and about lining their own pockets and no one is actually doing what is good for the American people,' jabbed a high-ranking former Biden White House official. A congressional Democratic source noted that Musk was Trump's top financial backer in the 2024 election, making the sudden onset and ferocity of the feud even more shocking. 'Now that the Trump experiment to use the richest man in the world as his cash cow drone has failed, Trump must recalibrate or this will be a real problem for him, politically and personally,' the source said. 'For Donald Trump to have not seen this coming makes you both question everything, and worry.' Originally published as Elon Musk drops 'really big bomb,' accuses Donald Trump of being in Epstein files as public brawl escalates
The Advertiser
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Advertiser
How Hulk Hogan's sex tape led to drug-friendly Games
What does Hulk Hogan's home-made porno - with his mate Bubba the Love Sponge's wife - have to do with it? For Australian entrepreneur Aron D'Souza, a fair bit. Hogan's romp is a link in the chain leading D'Souza to Las Vegas' sunset strip for this week's launch of Enhanced Games, a multi-sports event with no drug testing. D'Souza, a 40-year-old Melbourne-born businessman, has the backing of multi-billionaires, and a family company of US President Donald Trump. And he's pinching himself that a concept first planted in his mind 15 years ago when he read a bioethicist's paper is now in fruition. "I think about my life and it's like truth is stranger than fiction," D'Souza told AAP in an interview in Las Vegas. "If someone wrote the story of my life, you just couldn't believe it. "The Peter Thiel/Gawker case, that's a book and a movie in itself." The Gawker case involves Hulk Hogan and a home-made pornographic film. In 2006, the world famous wrestler was down in the dumps. A mate, a shock-jock known as Bubba the Love Sponge, offered his wife to Hogan. The wrestler agreed, on condition it wasn't recorded. Bubba lied, filmed the frolic and, six years later, it was leaked to a brash New York publisher known for flaunting rules, Gawker. In 2007, Gawker outed Thiel as gay. That article, while legal, enraged the German-born multi-billionaire who is now among financiers of D'Souza's Enhanced Games. The Australian met the German around 2010 when D'Souza, then 24, was completing a law degree at England's Oxford University. They got talking. Thiel told of his Gawker gripe. D'Souza got thinking. Why doesn't Thiel fund lawyers to find cases against Gawker, then sue them into extinction? Thiel agreed. When Gawker publishes Hulk Hogan's sex tape in 2012, D'Souza's plan swings into action. Backed by $10m of Thiel funds, Hogan wins damages to the tune of $100 million. Gawker goes bankrupt. Thiel was soon revealed as Hogan's bankroller. But D'Souza - the mastermind of a ruthless tactic earning some nods of approval among those in high society - stayed in the shadows, anonymous. Those who knew of his involvement in the case, knew him only as Mr A, adding to international intrigue. "I said I just want to be a private guy; I just want to go back to Australia, run my family property, business, run my start-ups," he said. "Today I am a very public figure but I was not comfortable with being a public figure 10 years ago. "The Gawker case, looking back, gave me the confidence to believe that I could do anything. "I'm very thankful to Peter Thiel because we decided to work on the Gawker case together when I was only 24 years old, I just met him socially." D'Souza remained connected with Thiel, who co-founded PayPal among other companies and was Facebook's first outside investor. And Thiel was an early investor when D'Souza floated Enhanced Games, a concept he nicked from an academic paper by Oxford bioethicist Professor Julian Savulescu debating merits of a sports event for athletes on drugs. "It wasn't my idea. I just said: 'You know what? I'm going to make a business out of this'," D'Souza said. Two years ago, he envisioned Enhanced Games interest streaming from various US college facilities. But he was shocked by the level of interest - and cash - from left field. Thiel, who wants to be cryogenically preserved when he dies, was joined as a backer by fellow multi-billionaire venture capitalist and biotech pioneer Christian Angermayer, who credits a magic mushroom trip for changing his life and wants to commercialise psychedelics. The pair, and others, view Enhanced Games not as a sports and entertainment event, but a shop-front stake in an anti-ageing and health industry worth trillions of dollars. "This is when two of the largest industries in the world merge - care, and sports and entertainment," D'Souza said. "There's so many more partnerships to be done, so many more levers in public policy to push, so many avenues of science to advance. "I do view this as still as a human rights struggle because, fundamentally, the principle human right is to be able to do with own body what we wish. "And that might mean taking synthetic testosterone. It may mean prosthesis. It may mean brain computer interfaces. "If you read the scientific literature, there is a pipeline of all this technology being developed right now." D'Souza said Enhanced Games' mission was "bringing super humanity - making the first super human". "Probably today, only one-tenth of a per cent of Americans would view themselves as enhanced," he said. "But in a few years, that will be five per cent, 10 per cent. "And that's how we're going to measure this. "I could get hit by a bus today and this event, this movement, will continue to succeed and grow because it's not about me, it's not about even the company that we have built. "It's about cultural zeitgeist that is happening in the world. "We timed it right but I am certain that within 20 years' time, all sport will be enhanced." The event has been decried by sports administrators worldwide, most notably the Olympic movement. But D'Souza said Olympic criticism had quietened since 1789 Capital, a company of Donald Trump Jnr, recently jumped aboard as a partner of the fledgling games. "I think there's been an order from the very top, and I mean from (soon-to-be retired IOC president Thomas) Bach himself," D'Souza said. "Because of the support we have from the Trump administration, and that the LA28 Olympics are coming around, they don't want to be seen as opposing us. "Because if they do, that risks the political support for LA28 and LA28 needs billions of dollars of taxpayer money to succeed." This AAP article was made possible by support from the Enhanced Games. What does Hulk Hogan's home-made porno - with his mate Bubba the Love Sponge's wife - have to do with it? For Australian entrepreneur Aron D'Souza, a fair bit. Hogan's romp is a link in the chain leading D'Souza to Las Vegas' sunset strip for this week's launch of Enhanced Games, a multi-sports event with no drug testing. D'Souza, a 40-year-old Melbourne-born businessman, has the backing of multi-billionaires, and a family company of US President Donald Trump. And he's pinching himself that a concept first planted in his mind 15 years ago when he read a bioethicist's paper is now in fruition. "I think about my life and it's like truth is stranger than fiction," D'Souza told AAP in an interview in Las Vegas. "If someone wrote the story of my life, you just couldn't believe it. "The Peter Thiel/Gawker case, that's a book and a movie in itself." The Gawker case involves Hulk Hogan and a home-made pornographic film. In 2006, the world famous wrestler was down in the dumps. A mate, a shock-jock known as Bubba the Love Sponge, offered his wife to Hogan. The wrestler agreed, on condition it wasn't recorded. Bubba lied, filmed the frolic and, six years later, it was leaked to a brash New York publisher known for flaunting rules, Gawker. In 2007, Gawker outed Thiel as gay. That article, while legal, enraged the German-born multi-billionaire who is now among financiers of D'Souza's Enhanced Games. The Australian met the German around 2010 when D'Souza, then 24, was completing a law degree at England's Oxford University. They got talking. Thiel told of his Gawker gripe. D'Souza got thinking. Why doesn't Thiel fund lawyers to find cases against Gawker, then sue them into extinction? Thiel agreed. When Gawker publishes Hulk Hogan's sex tape in 2012, D'Souza's plan swings into action. Backed by $10m of Thiel funds, Hogan wins damages to the tune of $100 million. Gawker goes bankrupt. Thiel was soon revealed as Hogan's bankroller. But D'Souza - the mastermind of a ruthless tactic earning some nods of approval among those in high society - stayed in the shadows, anonymous. Those who knew of his involvement in the case, knew him only as Mr A, adding to international intrigue. "I said I just want to be a private guy; I just want to go back to Australia, run my family property, business, run my start-ups," he said. "Today I am a very public figure but I was not comfortable with being a public figure 10 years ago. "The Gawker case, looking back, gave me the confidence to believe that I could do anything. "I'm very thankful to Peter Thiel because we decided to work on the Gawker case together when I was only 24 years old, I just met him socially." D'Souza remained connected with Thiel, who co-founded PayPal among other companies and was Facebook's first outside investor. And Thiel was an early investor when D'Souza floated Enhanced Games, a concept he nicked from an academic paper by Oxford bioethicist Professor Julian Savulescu debating merits of a sports event for athletes on drugs. "It wasn't my idea. I just said: 'You know what? I'm going to make a business out of this'," D'Souza said. Two years ago, he envisioned Enhanced Games interest streaming from various US college facilities. But he was shocked by the level of interest - and cash - from left field. Thiel, who wants to be cryogenically preserved when he dies, was joined as a backer by fellow multi-billionaire venture capitalist and biotech pioneer Christian Angermayer, who credits a magic mushroom trip for changing his life and wants to commercialise psychedelics. The pair, and others, view Enhanced Games not as a sports and entertainment event, but a shop-front stake in an anti-ageing and health industry worth trillions of dollars. "This is when two of the largest industries in the world merge - care, and sports and entertainment," D'Souza said. "There's so many more partnerships to be done, so many more levers in public policy to push, so many avenues of science to advance. "I do view this as still as a human rights struggle because, fundamentally, the principle human right is to be able to do with own body what we wish. "And that might mean taking synthetic testosterone. It may mean prosthesis. It may mean brain computer interfaces. "If you read the scientific literature, there is a pipeline of all this technology being developed right now." D'Souza said Enhanced Games' mission was "bringing super humanity - making the first super human". "Probably today, only one-tenth of a per cent of Americans would view themselves as enhanced," he said. "But in a few years, that will be five per cent, 10 per cent. "And that's how we're going to measure this. "I could get hit by a bus today and this event, this movement, will continue to succeed and grow because it's not about me, it's not about even the company that we have built. "It's about cultural zeitgeist that is happening in the world. "We timed it right but I am certain that within 20 years' time, all sport will be enhanced." The event has been decried by sports administrators worldwide, most notably the Olympic movement. But D'Souza said Olympic criticism had quietened since 1789 Capital, a company of Donald Trump Jnr, recently jumped aboard as a partner of the fledgling games. "I think there's been an order from the very top, and I mean from (soon-to-be retired IOC president Thomas) Bach himself," D'Souza said. "Because of the support we have from the Trump administration, and that the LA28 Olympics are coming around, they don't want to be seen as opposing us. "Because if they do, that risks the political support for LA28 and LA28 needs billions of dollars of taxpayer money to succeed." This AAP article was made possible by support from the Enhanced Games. What does Hulk Hogan's home-made porno - with his mate Bubba the Love Sponge's wife - have to do with it? For Australian entrepreneur Aron D'Souza, a fair bit. Hogan's romp is a link in the chain leading D'Souza to Las Vegas' sunset strip for this week's launch of Enhanced Games, a multi-sports event with no drug testing. D'Souza, a 40-year-old Melbourne-born businessman, has the backing of multi-billionaires, and a family company of US President Donald Trump. And he's pinching himself that a concept first planted in his mind 15 years ago when he read a bioethicist's paper is now in fruition. "I think about my life and it's like truth is stranger than fiction," D'Souza told AAP in an interview in Las Vegas. "If someone wrote the story of my life, you just couldn't believe it. "The Peter Thiel/Gawker case, that's a book and a movie in itself." The Gawker case involves Hulk Hogan and a home-made pornographic film. In 2006, the world famous wrestler was down in the dumps. A mate, a shock-jock known as Bubba the Love Sponge, offered his wife to Hogan. The wrestler agreed, on condition it wasn't recorded. Bubba lied, filmed the frolic and, six years later, it was leaked to a brash New York publisher known for flaunting rules, Gawker. In 2007, Gawker outed Thiel as gay. That article, while legal, enraged the German-born multi-billionaire who is now among financiers of D'Souza's Enhanced Games. The Australian met the German around 2010 when D'Souza, then 24, was completing a law degree at England's Oxford University. They got talking. Thiel told of his Gawker gripe. D'Souza got thinking. Why doesn't Thiel fund lawyers to find cases against Gawker, then sue them into extinction? Thiel agreed. When Gawker publishes Hulk Hogan's sex tape in 2012, D'Souza's plan swings into action. Backed by $10m of Thiel funds, Hogan wins damages to the tune of $100 million. Gawker goes bankrupt. Thiel was soon revealed as Hogan's bankroller. But D'Souza - the mastermind of a ruthless tactic earning some nods of approval among those in high society - stayed in the shadows, anonymous. Those who knew of his involvement in the case, knew him only as Mr A, adding to international intrigue. "I said I just want to be a private guy; I just want to go back to Australia, run my family property, business, run my start-ups," he said. "Today I am a very public figure but I was not comfortable with being a public figure 10 years ago. "The Gawker case, looking back, gave me the confidence to believe that I could do anything. "I'm very thankful to Peter Thiel because we decided to work on the Gawker case together when I was only 24 years old, I just met him socially." D'Souza remained connected with Thiel, who co-founded PayPal among other companies and was Facebook's first outside investor. And Thiel was an early investor when D'Souza floated Enhanced Games, a concept he nicked from an academic paper by Oxford bioethicist Professor Julian Savulescu debating merits of a sports event for athletes on drugs. "It wasn't my idea. I just said: 'You know what? I'm going to make a business out of this'," D'Souza said. Two years ago, he envisioned Enhanced Games interest streaming from various US college facilities. But he was shocked by the level of interest - and cash - from left field. Thiel, who wants to be cryogenically preserved when he dies, was joined as a backer by fellow multi-billionaire venture capitalist and biotech pioneer Christian Angermayer, who credits a magic mushroom trip for changing his life and wants to commercialise psychedelics. The pair, and others, view Enhanced Games not as a sports and entertainment event, but a shop-front stake in an anti-ageing and health industry worth trillions of dollars. "This is when two of the largest industries in the world merge - care, and sports and entertainment," D'Souza said. "There's so many more partnerships to be done, so many more levers in public policy to push, so many avenues of science to advance. "I do view this as still as a human rights struggle because, fundamentally, the principle human right is to be able to do with own body what we wish. "And that might mean taking synthetic testosterone. It may mean prosthesis. It may mean brain computer interfaces. "If you read the scientific literature, there is a pipeline of all this technology being developed right now." D'Souza said Enhanced Games' mission was "bringing super humanity - making the first super human". "Probably today, only one-tenth of a per cent of Americans would view themselves as enhanced," he said. "But in a few years, that will be five per cent, 10 per cent. "And that's how we're going to measure this. "I could get hit by a bus today and this event, this movement, will continue to succeed and grow because it's not about me, it's not about even the company that we have built. "It's about cultural zeitgeist that is happening in the world. "We timed it right but I am certain that within 20 years' time, all sport will be enhanced." The event has been decried by sports administrators worldwide, most notably the Olympic movement. But D'Souza said Olympic criticism had quietened since 1789 Capital, a company of Donald Trump Jnr, recently jumped aboard as a partner of the fledgling games. "I think there's been an order from the very top, and I mean from (soon-to-be retired IOC president Thomas) Bach himself," D'Souza said. "Because of the support we have from the Trump administration, and that the LA28 Olympics are coming around, they don't want to be seen as opposing us. "Because if they do, that risks the political support for LA28 and LA28 needs billions of dollars of taxpayer money to succeed." This AAP article was made possible by support from the Enhanced Games. What does Hulk Hogan's home-made porno - with his mate Bubba the Love Sponge's wife - have to do with it? For Australian entrepreneur Aron D'Souza, a fair bit. Hogan's romp is a link in the chain leading D'Souza to Las Vegas' sunset strip for this week's launch of Enhanced Games, a multi-sports event with no drug testing. D'Souza, a 40-year-old Melbourne-born businessman, has the backing of multi-billionaires, and a family company of US President Donald Trump. And he's pinching himself that a concept first planted in his mind 15 years ago when he read a bioethicist's paper is now in fruition. "I think about my life and it's like truth is stranger than fiction," D'Souza told AAP in an interview in Las Vegas. "If someone wrote the story of my life, you just couldn't believe it. "The Peter Thiel/Gawker case, that's a book and a movie in itself." The Gawker case involves Hulk Hogan and a home-made pornographic film. In 2006, the world famous wrestler was down in the dumps. A mate, a shock-jock known as Bubba the Love Sponge, offered his wife to Hogan. The wrestler agreed, on condition it wasn't recorded. Bubba lied, filmed the frolic and, six years later, it was leaked to a brash New York publisher known for flaunting rules, Gawker. In 2007, Gawker outed Thiel as gay. That article, while legal, enraged the German-born multi-billionaire who is now among financiers of D'Souza's Enhanced Games. The Australian met the German around 2010 when D'Souza, then 24, was completing a law degree at England's Oxford University. They got talking. Thiel told of his Gawker gripe. D'Souza got thinking. Why doesn't Thiel fund lawyers to find cases against Gawker, then sue them into extinction? Thiel agreed. When Gawker publishes Hulk Hogan's sex tape in 2012, D'Souza's plan swings into action. Backed by $10m of Thiel funds, Hogan wins damages to the tune of $100 million. Gawker goes bankrupt. Thiel was soon revealed as Hogan's bankroller. But D'Souza - the mastermind of a ruthless tactic earning some nods of approval among those in high society - stayed in the shadows, anonymous. Those who knew of his involvement in the case, knew him only as Mr A, adding to international intrigue. "I said I just want to be a private guy; I just want to go back to Australia, run my family property, business, run my start-ups," he said. "Today I am a very public figure but I was not comfortable with being a public figure 10 years ago. "The Gawker case, looking back, gave me the confidence to believe that I could do anything. "I'm very thankful to Peter Thiel because we decided to work on the Gawker case together when I was only 24 years old, I just met him socially." D'Souza remained connected with Thiel, who co-founded PayPal among other companies and was Facebook's first outside investor. And Thiel was an early investor when D'Souza floated Enhanced Games, a concept he nicked from an academic paper by Oxford bioethicist Professor Julian Savulescu debating merits of a sports event for athletes on drugs. "It wasn't my idea. I just said: 'You know what? I'm going to make a business out of this'," D'Souza said. Two years ago, he envisioned Enhanced Games interest streaming from various US college facilities. But he was shocked by the level of interest - and cash - from left field. Thiel, who wants to be cryogenically preserved when he dies, was joined as a backer by fellow multi-billionaire venture capitalist and biotech pioneer Christian Angermayer, who credits a magic mushroom trip for changing his life and wants to commercialise psychedelics. The pair, and others, view Enhanced Games not as a sports and entertainment event, but a shop-front stake in an anti-ageing and health industry worth trillions of dollars. "This is when two of the largest industries in the world merge - care, and sports and entertainment," D'Souza said. "There's so many more partnerships to be done, so many more levers in public policy to push, so many avenues of science to advance. "I do view this as still as a human rights struggle because, fundamentally, the principle human right is to be able to do with own body what we wish. "And that might mean taking synthetic testosterone. It may mean prosthesis. It may mean brain computer interfaces. "If you read the scientific literature, there is a pipeline of all this technology being developed right now." D'Souza said Enhanced Games' mission was "bringing super humanity - making the first super human". "Probably today, only one-tenth of a per cent of Americans would view themselves as enhanced," he said. "But in a few years, that will be five per cent, 10 per cent. "And that's how we're going to measure this. "I could get hit by a bus today and this event, this movement, will continue to succeed and grow because it's not about me, it's not about even the company that we have built. "It's about cultural zeitgeist that is happening in the world. "We timed it right but I am certain that within 20 years' time, all sport will be enhanced." The event has been decried by sports administrators worldwide, most notably the Olympic movement. But D'Souza said Olympic criticism had quietened since 1789 Capital, a company of Donald Trump Jnr, recently jumped aboard as a partner of the fledgling games. "I think there's been an order from the very top, and I mean from (soon-to-be retired IOC president Thomas) Bach himself," D'Souza said. "Because of the support we have from the Trump administration, and that the LA28 Olympics are coming around, they don't want to be seen as opposing us. "Because if they do, that risks the political support for LA28 and LA28 needs billions of dollars of taxpayer money to succeed." This AAP article was made possible by support from the Enhanced Games.
West Australian
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- West Australian
How Hulk Hogan's sex tape led to drug-friendly Games
What does Hulk Hogan's home-made porno - with his mate Bubba the Love Sponge's wife - have to do with it? For Australian entrepreneur Aron D'Souza, a fair bit. Hogan's romp is a link in the chain leading D'Souza to Las Vegas' sunset strip for this week's launch of Enhanced Games, a multi-sports event with no drug testing. D'Souza, a 40-year-old Melbourne-born businessman, has the backing of multi-billionaires, and a family company of US President Donald Trump. And he's pinching himself that a concept first planted in his mind 15 years ago when he read a bioethicist's paper is now in fruition. "I think about my life and it's like truth is stranger than fiction," D'Souza told AAP in an interview in Las Vegas. "If someone wrote the story of my life, you just couldn't believe it. "The Peter Thiel/Gawker case, that's a book and a movie in itself." The Gawker case involves Hulk Hogan and a home-made pornographic film. In 2006, the world famous wrestler was down in the dumps. A mate, a shock-jock known as Bubba the Love Sponge, offered his wife to Hogan. The wrestler agreed, on condition it wasn't recorded. Bubba lied, filmed the frolic and, six years later, it was leaked to a brash New York publisher known for flaunting rules, Gawker. In 2007, Gawker outed Thiel as gay. That article, while legal, enraged the German-born multi-billionaire who is now among financiers of D'Souza's Enhanced Games. The Australian met the German around 2010 when D'Souza, then 24, was completing a law degree at England's Oxford University. They got talking. Thiel told of his Gawker gripe. D'Souza got thinking. Why doesn't Thiel fund lawyers to find cases against Gawker, then sue them into extinction? Thiel agreed. When Gawker publishes Hulk Hogan's sex tape in 2012, D'Souza's plan swings into action. "This is when two of the largest industries in the world merge - care, and sports and entertainment," D'Souza said. "There's so many more partnerships to be done, so many more levers in public policy to push, so many avenues of science to advance. "I do view this as still as a human rights struggle because, fundamentally, the principle human right is to be able to do with own body what we wish. "And that might mean taking synthetic testosterone. It may mean prosthesis. It may mean brain computer interfaces. "If you read the scientific literature, there is a pipeline of all this technology being developed right now." D'Souza said Enhanced Games' mission was "bringing super humanity - making the first super human". "Probably today, only one-tenth of a per cent of Americans would view themselves as enhanced," he said. "But in a few years, that will be five per cent, 10 per cent. "And that's how we're going to measure this. "I could get hit by a bus today and this event, this movement, will continue to succeed and grow because it's not about me, it's not about even the company that we have built. "It's about cultural zeitgeist that is happening in the world. "We timed it right but I am certain that within 20 years' time, all sport will be enhanced." The event has been decried by sports administrators worldwide, most notably the Olympic movement. But D'Souza said Olympic criticism had quietened since 1789 Capital, a company of Donald Trump Jnr, recently jumped aboard as a partner of the fledgling games. "I think there's been an order from the very top, and I mean from (soon-to-be retired IOC president Thomas) Bach himself," D'Souza said. "Because of the support we have from the Trump administration, and that the LA28 Olympics are coming around, they don't want to be seen as opposing us. "Because if they do, that risks the political support for LA28 and LA28 needs billions of dollars of taxpayer money to succeed." This AAP article was made possible by support from the Enhanced Games.
Perth Now
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
How Hulk Hogan's sex tape led to drug-friendly Games
What does Hulk Hogan's home-made porno - with his mate Bubba the Love Sponge's wife - have to do with it? For Australian entrepreneur Aron D'Souza, a fair bit. Hogan's romp is a link in the chain leading D'Souza to Las Vegas' sunset strip for this week's launch of Enhanced Games, a multi-sports event with no drug testing. D'Souza, a 40-year-old Melbourne-born businessman, has the backing of multi-billionaires, and a family company of US President Donald Trump. And he's pinching himself that a concept first planted in his mind 15 years ago when he read a bioethicist's paper is now in fruition. "I think about my life and it's like truth is stranger than fiction," D'Souza told AAP in an interview in Las Vegas. "If someone wrote the story of my life, you just couldn't believe it. "The Peter Thiel/Gawker case, that's a book and a movie in itself." The Gawker case involves Hulk Hogan and a home-made pornographic film. In 2006, the world famous wrestler was down in the dumps. A mate, a shock-jock known as Bubba the Love Sponge, offered his wife to Hogan. The wrestler agreed, on condition it wasn't recorded. Bubba lied, filmed the frolic and, six years later, it was leaked to a brash New York publisher known for flaunting rules, Gawker. In 2007, Gawker outed Thiel as gay. That article, while legal, enraged the German-born multi-billionaire who is now among financiers of D'Souza's Enhanced Games. The Australian met the German around 2010 when D'Souza, then 24, was completing a law degree at England's Oxford University. They got talking. Thiel told of his Gawker gripe. D'Souza got thinking. Why doesn't Thiel fund lawyers to find cases against Gawker, then sue them into extinction? Thiel agreed. When Gawker publishes Hulk Hogan's sex tape in 2012, D'Souza's plan swings into action. "This is when two of the largest industries in the world merge - care, and sports and entertainment," D'Souza said. "There's so many more partnerships to be done, so many more levers in public policy to push, so many avenues of science to advance. "I do view this as still as a human rights struggle because, fundamentally, the principle human right is to be able to do with own body what we wish. "And that might mean taking synthetic testosterone. It may mean prosthesis. It may mean brain computer interfaces. "If you read the scientific literature, there is a pipeline of all this technology being developed right now." D'Souza said Enhanced Games' mission was "bringing super humanity - making the first super human". "Probably today, only one-tenth of a per cent of Americans would view themselves as enhanced," he said. "But in a few years, that will be five per cent, 10 per cent. "And that's how we're going to measure this. "I could get hit by a bus today and this event, this movement, will continue to succeed and grow because it's not about me, it's not about even the company that we have built. "It's about cultural zeitgeist that is happening in the world. "We timed it right but I am certain that within 20 years' time, all sport will be enhanced." The event has been decried by sports administrators worldwide, most notably the Olympic movement. But D'Souza said Olympic criticism had quietened since 1789 Capital, a company of Donald Trump Jnr, recently jumped aboard as a partner of the fledgling games. "I think there's been an order from the very top, and I mean from (soon-to-be retired IOC president Thomas) Bach himself," D'Souza said. "Because of the support we have from the Trump administration, and that the LA28 Olympics are coming around, they don't want to be seen as opposing us. "Because if they do, that risks the political support for LA28 and LA28 needs billions of dollars of taxpayer money to succeed." This AAP article was made possible by support from the Enhanced Games.
