A screening for Bubba the Love Sponge’s forthcoming documentary moved forward this past Friday despite a lawsuit filed by Hulk Hogan’s estate.
Last week, Nick Bollea and Terry McCoy filed a lawsuit against Bubba the Love Sponge (Todd Clem), alleging copyright infringement, federal trademark infringement, and violating a 2012 settlement agreement with the late Terry Bollea a.k.a. Hulk Hogan.
The two plaintiffs are representing the estate of Hogan and were seeking a temporary restraining order to stop the release of Clem’s documentary, Video Killed The Radio Star: The Untold Story of the Hulk Hogan Sex Tape Scandal.
The documentary is scheduled to be released this week, but a screening occurred last Friday in Tampa and was nearly canceled by the venue.
On Thursday, a judge issued a temporary restraining order for Bollea and McCoy prohibiting Clem from publishing any portion of the 2007 sex tape involving Hulk Hogan and Clem’s ex-wife, Heather.
The Tampa Bay Times reports that hours before the screening, the Centro Asturiano de Tampa in Ybor City informed Clem that they could not air the documentary because of the potential legal fallout.
Clem’s team was able to assure the venue by editing out eight seconds of footage from the 190-minute doc, containing the portion of the sex tape at the crux of the legal battle. In addition, the producers of the documentary assumed full liability in writing to the venue.
Among those in attendance at the screening was Hogan’s daughter, Brooke, who has appeared on Bubba the Love Sponge’s radio program multiple times since her father’s passing. During one appearance, she informed Bubba that her father knew that he wasn’t the one who leaked the sex tape, although he was responsible for recording Hogan without his knowledge.
The plaintiffs argue that Hogan registered the sex tape with the U.S. Copyright Office, and the producers would be in violation by including the footage as well as using the registered Hulk Hogan mark to promote the doc.
When Gawker released a portion of the tape in 2012, Hogan filed a lawsuit against Clem, but the two settled. The plaintiffs argue that the settlement is being violated with the release of the documentary.
The documentary is available for pre-sale and set to be released this Friday, with The Tampa Bay Times noting that Clem has said the missing eight seconds of footage will be included with the release.
