Hulk Hogan’s son, Nick Hogan, has moved quickly to keep his late father’s most infamous scandal from resurfacing on screen. On September 2, Nick, alongside Terry McCoy, a close friend of the WWE icon and curator of his estate, filed a temporary restraining order against radio host Bubba the Love Sponge Clem. The order came after Clem attempted to use footage from Hulk Hogan’s notorious 2007 sex tape in his new documentary Video Killed the Radio Star.
Court documents revealed that Clem, 59, had included portions of the tape in the film without permission, despite Hulk Hogan having previously secured rights to the footage. Back in 2012, Hogan reached a legal settlement with Clem in which the radio host surrendered all claims to the tape. Hogan then registered it with the U.S. copyright office to prevent further distribution. The clip in question featured Hogan with Heather Cole, who was Clem’s wife at the time, captured by home security cameras.
The petition argued that showing the tape would cause immediate and irreparable harm to Hogan’s estate. On September 4, a judge granted the restraining order. Producers of the documentary were forced to remove an eight-second segment before its September 5 premiere in Tampa. Venue management confirmed that the filmmakers accepted liability for any fallout.
Hogan, born Terrence Gene Bollea, died in July at age 71. His estate, worth nearly $5 million, was left under the oversight of Nick, now 35, who inherited much of his father’s fortune and responsibility for his legacy. The new legal move reflects Nick’s determination to protect that legacy from being overshadowed by past scandals.
Although the altered documentary went ahead as planned, the incident stirred renewed attention to one of the darkest chapters in Hogan’s life. For fans, it was a reminder that even in death, the wrestling superstar’s name remains entangled with controversy.
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