Hulk Hogan's $110M Lawsuit with Cox Radio over Sex Tape Reaches Settlement

WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan and Cox Radio reached a settlement Thursday in Hogan's $110 million lawsuit regarding the release of a sex tape in 2012.

According to Josh Rojas of Bay News 9, Hogan settled for an undisclosed amount and avoided a jury trial, which was set to begin in January 2021.

In addition to Cox Radio, radio hosts Mike "Cowhead" Calta and Matt "Spiceboy" Loyd were listed as defendants. Hogan alleged that Calta anonymously leaked the sex tape to Gawker through his agent as part of Calta's "radio wars" with Bubba Clem.

The leaked sex tape featured Hogan having sex with Clem's then-wife, Heather, and it was later published online by Gawker.

Hogan sued Gawker and won the case in 2016, resulting in Gawker being ordered to pay $141 million in damages. Gawker settled with Hogan for $31 million and went bankrupt.

Per Rojas, Calta admitted to police in Tampa, Florida, that he stole DVDs from Clem's studio, made copies and leaked some of the contents to other media outlets.

In addition to the sex tape, a video that featured Hogan using the N-word was leaked to and published by the National Enquirer in 2015. That led to WWE cutting ties with Hogan and removing him from its Hall of Fame.

WWE reinstated Hogan in 2018, and he has made periodic appearances as an ambassador for the company since then.

He had been scheduled to get inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame for a second time as a member of the New World Order during WrestleMania weekend in Tampa next month, but the ceremony was postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.