Tampa Radio: Heather Testifies There Were Other Men

On Wednesday, Tampa radio personality Bubba the Love Sponge Clem wriggled out of a courthouse appearance by exercising his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. In doing so, he ensured he would not have to testify in the trial of a lawsuit that revolves around a sex tape he made in 2007, featuring his then-wife Heather Clem and the former wrestler Hulk Hogan.

Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, sued Gawker in 2012 after the website published a one-minute and 41-second excerpt of the video, which Clem recorded using his home security system. Bollea is demanding $100 million in damages.

Originally a target of the lawsuit, Clem went on the radio and blasted Bollea, claiming the former wrestler knew all along that he was being filmed. But within a matter of weeks, the two had reached a settlement.

The Tampa Bay Times reports in return for the modest sum of $5,000 and Clem's promise to aid him in his case against Gawker, Bollea dropped the suit. Clem quickly changed his story. When he sat for a deposition, he said under oath that he had filmed his former best friend covertly.

According to Gawker's attorneys, Clem changed his tune again, at one point telling FBI investigators that he, his then-wife, and Bollea all knew the sexual encounter was being filmed.

This flip-flopping made Clem an ideal witness for Gawker. At one point earlier this week, Gawker attorney Michael Berry referred to the DJ as a "pathological ... untrustworthy person."

But despite Gawker's objections, Clem's move to quash Gawker's subpoena was successful. His attorney argued that if he was made to take the stand and address his multiple conflicting statements, he could be sued for perjury. He could also potentially face prosecution for making the sex tape, as recording someone without their consent is illegal in Florida.

On Wednesday, jurors were shown parts of Heather Clem's deposition in which she said that her ex-husband had filmed her sexual liaisons with other men besides Bollea. She said that in those instances, she knew she was being filmed, and was aware there was a camera trained on her and Clem's bed. But she maintained she had no idea her encounter with Bollea was being videotaped.

“Did Mr. Clem generally pick who you had sex with?” asked Michael Berry, a lawyer for the Gawker media company, which Hogan is suing for $100 million for posting a clip of him having sex with Cole.

“On the occasion that I had sex with someone other than him, yes,” Cole, 41, responded.

Sniffling throughout the deposition, which was played at the trial, Cole said she had no qualms when the Love Sponge asked her to hook up with his best pal, Hogan, who at the time was splitting from his first wife, Linda.

“I said I would,” she testified, saying that she had never been interested in having sex with him before then.

Cole recalled having sex with Hogan — whose real name is Terry Bollea — on four separate occasions at the request of her then-husband. She said they had sex in her bedroom, at his home, in Clem’s studio, and once at a Tennessee hotel.