Todd Alan Clem[1] (born April 21, 1966) is an American radio personality better known by his Legal name Bubba the Love Sponge Clem. He is the host of The Bubba the Love Sponge Show on various Cox Radio and Beasley Broadcast Group stations, formerly on Sirius XM Howard 101, as well as on RadioIO.[2]
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Bubba, a native of Warsaw, Indiana, began his radio career on Indiana State University's WISU-FM. Following school, one of his first paying gigs was at WGRD in Grand Rapids, Michigan where he worked evenings. The ever controversial Bubba was in trouble with WGRD almost from the start due to the sexual content of his show. Bubba also took shots against crosstown competitor WKLQ, in particular Danny Douglas who worked at WKLQ during the evening. Bubba went after Danny by calling him a homosexual on the air, at one point even claiming that Danny had AIDS. After Roger's Department Store canceled their account with WGRD, management at the station met with Bubba and explicitly told him what he couldn't say on the air. Bubba also apologized to Danny, but less than a week later Bubba began to disparage Danny on the air again. On December 20, 1988, a 13-year-old-girl listening to the show called Bubba to defend Danny. Bubba made sexual references to Danny and to the 13-year-old female caller. He was fired the next day.[3][4] Bubba also enjoyed a short stay at Hot 102/WLUM-FM in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
On February 27, 2001, while on WXTB 97.9 (98 Rock) out of Tampa, Florida, Bubba the Love Sponge was struck with controversy once again for the on-air slaughtering of a wild Florida boar hog. Bubba encouraged listeners that morning to bring roadkill to the parking lot barbecue outside the radio station where the events unfolded. The wild hog used during the segment was captured by a professional hunter. The same hunter was the individual who killed and prepared the hog for the barbecue. Sounds of the hog covered the airwaves in a way that made the listener perceive the hog was being harassed and aggravated. After further review, the stunt revealed that Bubba had piped in sounds of a wild boar "rutting" up the ground in place for the sound of the actual boar being slaughtered. Bubba the Love Sponge and Executive Producer Brent Hatley were both detained by authorities and were both placed on trial for animal cruelty charges. The trial made national attention outside of Florida appearing on such networks as Court TV (now Tru TV). Several months later in May 2001, the duo were cleared of any charges and it was decided that the event was legal and no criminal acts were committed. Today, Bubba agrees that the segment was distasteful but continues to state today that nothing criminal pursued from his actions that February morning. Bubba has stated he will never attempt a stunt like this again.
The Federal Communications Commission issued a Notice of Apparent Liability (a precursor to a fine) of $755,000 against four stations owned by Clear Channel Communications (including its parent station, WXTB) on January 27, 2004 for objectionable segments of "Bubba the Love Sponge" aired on its stations in five Florida cities: Callahan, Clearwater, Port Charlotte, West Palm Beach, and Jacksonville. The fine consisted of the maximum of $27,500 for each of 26 airings of a segment plus $40,000 for record-keeping violations. The segments included graphic discussions about sex and drugs and according to the FCC were "designed to pander to, titillate and shock listeners". One segment featured the cartoon characters Alvin the Chipmunks, George Jetson and Scooby-Doo discussing sexual activities.[5]
Clear Channel Communications discontinued Bubba's show on February 23, 2004 and two days later, Clear Channel CEO John Hogan testified in front of Congress, stating that the "Bubba the Love Sponge" show would no longer be broadcast on Clear Channel.
Currently, Bubba can be heard on several stations primarily owned by Cox Radio and Beasley Broadcast Group.
On January 3, 2010, Bubba announced via his Twitter account that he had signed with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling as a backstage interviewer.[6][7] He made his debut the following day on the special live, three-hour, Monday night edition of TNA Impact!, participating in four short backstage segments.[8]
On January 16, 2010, Bubba made remarks on his Twitter account that were disparaging of Haiti's struggle to recover from the January 12 earthquake. Although he later apologized, his tweets created a rift between himself and TNA management, and for a while he was not used by the company on their television broadcast.[9]
On January 19, 2010, Bubba claimed that he had been blind-sided and physically assaulted by Awesome Kong while backstage for the tapings of TNA Impact! the previous day, claims substantiated on his program by TNA's Hulk Hogan. According to all three, the altercation was a result of the Twitter comments made by Bubba the Love Sponge concerning the Haiti relief project.[10][11] On February 25, Bubba announced that he was done with TNA Wrestling. That same day, news broke that Awesome Kong, real name Kia Stevens, had filed a lawsuit against Clem for an alleged threatening phone call.[12] Bubba later joined in on the Cowhead radio show confronting Stevens, allegedly using racially charged comments.[13]
He returned to TNA television as The Band's personal interviewer in late March,[14] only to be fired from the company on April 30, 2010 stemming from the Cowhead Show incident.[15]
On December 22, 2010 Bubba officially left his spot as a radio show host on the Sirius/XM Satellite radio service.[16]
On January 3, 2011 Bubba announced he will be the first major radio announcer to have an internet show. The show will be on the site radioio.com and feature several programming features throughout the day starting on January 10, 2011.[17]
Currently, Bubba promotes his own charity, The Bubba the Love Sponge Foundation, Inc., which raises money for various Florida situations, including "Bikes for Badges", which honors the fallen officers of the region's various law enforcement departments.
In February 2011, Bubba began a nightly editorial segment, Bring It on Bubba, for WTSP's 10 News at 11.[18]
On August 15, 2011 WHTQ in Orlando (now WDBO-FM) and WFYV-FM in Jacksonville dropped Bubba the Love Sponge from their morning lineup—in WHTQ's case, it was due to a format change in which the station began a simulcast with WDBO.