In 2009, Business Insider reported that Hearst Corporation sought to buy "Kotaku" from Gawker Media. Fleshbot is a sex-oriented weblog, founded by Gawker Media. He is the former editor of Gawker and Deadspin. Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel helped Hogan to finance his lawsuit against Gawker Media. Balk shared responsibility for the Gawker site with co-editor Emily Gould. The incident was covered by major media outlets, including "TMZ", "Gawker", and "USA Today". Gawker CEO Nick Denton said the company would appeal the verdict. His Internet fame spawned interviews with disparate media outlets, including "NBC News" and "Gawker". Founded in 2003, Gawker was the flagship blog for Denton's Gawker Media. The group was called "YouTube's foremost ass-shaking troupe" by gossip website "Gawker". Univision has since deleted all the comments on Gawker articles. The blog joined the Gawker Media network of websites. Smart was left alone, except for his cat Jeoffrey and the occasional gawker. Lavery wrote for "Gawker" and "The Hairpin". She later was promoted as a staff writer at Gawker.