All the latest on the fallout from Hulk Hogan's secretly taped racist rant being publicly exposed

• First up, for those who want to understand the Hulk Hogan vs. Gawker lawsuit in greater detail, which led, either directly or indirectly, to the publication of racist comments he made during a secretly taped sex session with the former Mrs Bubba The Love Sponge, Heather Cole, then I'd recommend reading David Bixenspan's coverage in the Figure Four Weekly newsletter this month. He was really ahead of the curve on this story and thus has the best understanding of the legal technicalities of this case of any wrestling reporter around.
• Hulk Hogan's lawyer, David Houston, has been doing his best to perform damage control by attempting to deflect attention away from the racist remarks attributed to his client by focusing on the suspicious timing of the leak and the likely source. He told FOX411 that "I have my suspicions, as you can imagine. If I can find out it is Gawker who leaked the transcripts, we will bury them."
• Houston also made clear to note that Hogan was "devastated" by his past actions and "sincerely apologises to his family, friends and fans," whilst claiming that his client was "not a racist" and that "his history defines him as something different."
• In response, Gawker's President and General Counsel, Heather Dietrick, flatly denied the site had anything to do with the leak, telling FOX411 that "Hulk Hogan has only one person to blame for what he said and no one from Gawker had any role in leaking that information."
• If Gawker's lawyers are found to be responsible for leaking information to the media about the explosive contents of another Hogan sex tape, which they obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request, but the evidence was sealed to prevent them from telling anyone else about it, then the court has the discretion to impose a range of sanctions against Gawker. These range from precluding Gawker from introducing this new tape as evidence in the trial to striking Gawker's answer in the case, thereby awarding Hogan the equivalent of a default judgment.
• The recent controversy has led to a reexamination of TMZ's story last September that Hogan's Beach restaurant in Tampa had a racist dress code banning oversized t-shirts, excessively baggy attire, low hanging pants and shorts, hats facing sideways or back facing, oversized and excessive jewelry, camouflage gear, workout clothing, high-top sneakers and even do-rags and bandannas. At the time, Hogan claimed he didn't own the restaurant, just licensed his name to it, but used his clout to get the dress code removed as soon as he was made aware of it by TMZ. Now, however, RadarOnline.com has uncovered Florida Secretary of State documents that reveal that Terry Geen Bollea (i.e., Hulk Hogan) is indeed the owner of Hogan's Beach restaurant. The Hulkster lying, say it ain't so!
• Unsurprisingly, Hogan’s Beach manager, Nick, has attempted to distance himself from the scandal claiming that "The restaurant has nothing to do with the comments made by Hulk Hogan. We are open for business, and we welcome and serve everyone." He also added that Hogan had not been in the restaurant "for a very long time." That was another lie, as Hogan had been spotted in the restaurant just over two weeks ago:

  @HogansBeachTamp I met hulk at hogans beach thank you hogans beach and @HulkHogan its been a pleasure I'll come back pic.twitter.com/wTZXgfBNG0

  — Colton cheuvront (@sloppyjoe05031) July 10, 2015

Thank you my brother Mick only love. H pic.twitter.com/z4nJ70Q6Au

— Hulk Hogan (@HulkHogan) July 24, 2015

Thank you my brother Virgil. Only love HH pic.twitter.com/kX6oZePNhb

— Hulk Hogan (@HulkHogan) July 24, 2015

Thank you to all my friends,family and business partners for all your love and support,you guys know who I really am and I love u 4 that. HH

— Hulk Hogan (@HulkHogan) July 25, 2015

@HulkHogan i think you're a good guy brother And what happened just a misunderstanding pic.twitter.com/1UKdt4APhS

— DJAmel (@MSuTDjAmEl) July 26, 2015

Shaq is twice as big as me this would not happen unless he let me only love Shaq. HH

— Hulk Hogan (@HulkHogan) July 26, 2015