- TAMPA, Florida, (ENS) - A
popular Florida radio disc jockey known as Bubba the Love Sponge is soaking
up nothing but trouble in wake of what prosecutors charge was an illegal
act of animal cruelty disguised as a publicity stunt to boost ratings.
The WXTB radio personality was charged with felony animal cruelty last
night and booked at the county jail.
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- Struggling to win the Tampa radio ratings battle in the
lucrative morning drive time slot, Bubba and his producer staged what they
called a "road kill barbeque" that led to the castration and
slaughter of a wild boar in the station parking lot last month while listeners
were treated to a graphic play-by-play of the event.
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- According to a criminal report affidavit that police
used to obtain arrest warrants for the announcer, his producer and two
others, the wild boar was tormented and castrated for entertainment purposes.
Its throat was slit, and it bled to death as a result.
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- The February 27 incident on WXTB Rock 98 outraged so
many Tampa citizens that animal rights groups are leading an advertiser
boycott and the Federal Communications Commission is investigating complaints
that the broadcast was obscene.
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- Station management first denied any involvement in the
stunt but later, as major advertisers began pulling their ads off the station,
the announcer was suspended for two weeks. The station issued a statement
calling the broadcast "highly distasteful" and admitting Bubba
"showed poor judgment."
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- Hunter Paul Lauterberg holds decapitated boar's head
following the slaughter.
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- Adding fuel to the firestorm, graphic pictures of the
slaughter were posted on the announcer's website showing the animal before
and after it was killed. One of the pictures showed an unidentified man
holding the boar's severed head as a trophy in front of a Mercedes-Benz
that sports Bubba's personalized licensed plate.
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- A listener downloaded the pictures just before the controversy
led the webmaster to remove them. Shortly after officials denied any such
pictures existed, they were posted on the website of a local animal rights
organization known as ADAPTT, Animals Deserve Absolute Protection Today
and Tomorrow.
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- Charged along with Bubba and his producer Brent Hatley,
was the hunter, Paul Lauterberg, who reportedly caught the boar in the
North Florida woods and brought it to the station, and a listener seen
in the photos holding the animal down as it was castrated and slaughtered.
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- Conviction could land each of the men in jail for up
to five years.
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- Unidentified man holds boar's head in front of Bubba's
license plate.
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- Following his booking, Bubba was entirely unrepentant.
He agreed the stunt may well have been in bad taste but insisted it did
not violate any criminal statute.
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- The announcer's legal name is Bubba The Love Sponge.
Born Todd Clem, he recently changed his name in court and now even his
Florida drivers license is in the name of Bubba The Love Sponge.
-
- Bubba and his producer were back on the air this morning
following a statement by WXTB general manager Dan Diloreto that "our
employees are prepared to prove they are innocent of the felony animal
cruelty charges."
-
- The charges come on the heels of the conviction of Denver
disc jockey Stephen Meade of KBPI-FM radio earlier this month. Meade was
found guilty of animal cruelty charges after he entertained his audience
with the toss of a live chicken from the second floor window of KBPI. When
the bird survived the fall, it was carried up to the third floor and tossed
again before a listener rushed to the station and rescued the injured chicken.
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- Both stations are owned by Clear Channel Communications
based in San Antonio, Texas, the nation's largest broadcasting chain. Clear
Channel owns, programs, or sells airtime for 1,170 radio stations throughout
the United States. It has equity interests in more than 240 radio stations
internationally.
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