Hulk Hogan Sex Tape Documentary Blocked by Florida Judge (1)

The radio personality who secretly recorded a sex tape of the late Terry Bollea, better known as Hulk Hogan, is barred from showing any portion of that footage in a forthcoming documentary, a federal court said Thursday.

But that victory is going to cost Bollea’s estate in the form of a substantial bond.

Bollea’s estate sued radio personality Bubba the Love Sponge Clem this week claiming that his documentary about the sex tape scandal violated intellectual property rights Bollea possessed in his sex tape. The US District Court for the Middle District of Florida ruled those rights, at least for now, can prevent Clem from releasing any clips of that tape in a documentary.

Clem in 2007 surreptitiously recorded Bollea—who died in July—having sex with Clem’s wife. The video also included a conversation of Bollea using racial slurs.

“Under these circumstances, the Court finds the requirements for a temporary restraining order, including likelihood of success, irreparable harm, balancing of harms, and the public interest are met with respect to actual publication of the allegedly copyrighted material,” Judge Thomas P. Barber said. “However, in view of the circumstances and the potential for financial harm to Clem if the temporary restraining order is determined to have been improperly entered, the Court will require Plaintiffs to post a bond in the amount of $500,000.”

Confidential Settlement

Barber’s opinion weighed the estate’s rights against the presumably large payout Clem could expect from wide viewership of the documentary on the eve of its premiere.

Clem’s movie, titled “Video Killed The Radio Star: The Untold Story of the Hulk Hogan Sex Tape Scandal,” is set to be aired at a private party on Friday, and released to the public on Sept. 12. Pre-orders of the film are leading the documentary category on the Apple TV store.

The decision touched on a confidential settlement between Bollea and Clem inked during the fallout from the sex tape scandal in 2012. That deal conveyed rights in the sex tape from Clem to Bollea, and required Clem to only refer to the wrestler “in a positive way or in relation to a newsworthy event,” Barber said.

But in the days preceding his death Clem had speculated about Bollea’s health and mentioned conspiracies involving his medical treatment, and Barber said Clem also remarked on his personal life through his various outlets.

The estate’s delay in enforcing their non-disparagement deal—waiting until three days before airing of the documentary—weighed against their argument. However, the court gave them limited relief because the “damage to the Estate arising from copyright violations may be difficult to quantify and to remedy with an award of money damages.”

Clem didn’t respond to a request for comment sent to his production company. Due to the emergency status of the case, his legal team hadn’t yet entered an appearance on the docket.

Turkel Cuva Barrios PA, which represents Bollea’s estate, declined to comment about the ruling. However, as of Thursday evening they had started to follow other parts of the court’s order, such as seeking to serve Clem and filing the confidential settlement on the docket.

The case is McCoy et al v. Clem, M.D. Fla., No. 8:25-cv-02334, preliminary injunction partially granted 9/4/25.