While back in the national headlines due to comments made by Fox News’ Tucker Carlson while appearing on his show years ago, Bubba The Love Sponge Clem is once again suing Cox Media Group and “102.5 The Bone” WHPT Sarasota/Tampa morning host Mike Calta and former WHPT host Matt ‘Spice Boy’ Loyd claiming that Cox engineered a scheme that led to Bubba’s firing from Beasley Media’s “Bubba 98.7” WBRN-FM Holmes Beach in December 2016.
These are the same allegations that Clem attempted to have added to Nielsen’s ratings tampering suit against him that was settled in July 2018. Then Bubba claimed that Cox and Nielsen conspired against him and Beasley Media through a sting operation and used its monopoly power to interfere with his relationship with Beasley by artificially increasing WHPT’s market share. Clem stated that Nielsen was using the competition to entice Cox to pay for additional services and conceal their own fraudulent conduct committed by its own employees including Calta, who had replaced Bubba in mornings at WHPT.
The new suit adds that Calta made on-air statements about Bubba tampering with ratings, leaked the Hulk Hogan sex tape with Bubba’s then-wife Heather Cole to Gawker that was allegedly stolen by Loyd, and Cox arranged the entrapment of Bubba leading to the station terminating him and changing the format of WBRN-FM in December 2016.
Attorney Jeffrey E. Nusinov told WFTS-TV, “As our complaint alleges, Cox Media has engaged in improper, anti-competitive acts that no major media company should ever employ. Cox Media set out to destroy Bubba Clem – not through honest competition, but through dishonest and illegal means.” Calta and Loyd are part of a $110 million invasion of privacy lawsuit filed by Hulk Hogan that is set to go to trial in August 2020.
Dude needs some help.
Bubba got fired from Beasley because he stunk in the ratings and illegally shared Nielsen info. He’ll blame everyone else but himself for his failings.
His 15 minutes of fame were up a decade ago. Everyone has fans. But I have never been one of his.
How can we miss him when he won’t go away? Todd “Bubba” Clem is everything that is wrong in radio today. I had the misfortune of hearing his show once on a former Fort Myers …. talk about knuckle dragging low IQ radio! I feel bad for his ex-wife. Ya I know she was the one who wanted to ride the Hulkster, but she got screwed after the fact more than she did when she was doing the horizontal bop with Hogan. It was Clem and Clem alone that came up with the plan to alter the ratings. How much did that cost Beasley in “make goods” or refunds? He should be cleaning toilets at some transmitter site in the middle of nowhere….