Hulk Hogan is moving forward with his $100 million lawsuit against Gawker for posting his sex tape online ... TMZ has learned, the wrestling legend has refiled the case.

Hulk dismissed the lawsuit in federal court without prejudice last month, and refiled it in Florida state court -- where he's also currently suing his sex tape partner Heather Clem ... the ex-wife of radio personality Bubba the Love Sponge. Hulk claims Clem played a role in leaking the footage to the media.

Hulk's lawyer tells TMZ, Hulk dismissed the federal case in order to consolidate his claims against both Clem and Gawker ... i.e. to bring both cases under the same roof ... which ultimately means less paperwork and attorney's fees.

As we reported, Hulk sued Gawker last October for posting a minute-long clip of him doing the dirty with Clem ... a tape that was recorded more than 6 years ago.

Hulk also sued Bubba the Love Sponge for unspecified damages -- accusing him of leaking the footage to the media -- but that lawsuit was settled, and Bubba apologized on the air.

Hulk Hogan's sex tape will STAY ON THE INTERNET ... at least for the foreseeable future -- because a judge has just denied the wrestler's bid to yank it from the web ASAP.

You'll recall, Hulk sued Gawker for $100 million for publishing his sex tape -- and filed a preliminary motion demanding Gawker take the tape down immediately, while the case makes its way through the court system.

But today, a judge refused to order Gawker to do squat -- ruling Hulk failed to prove the website wasn't within its First Amendment rights to post the video in the first place.

Moreover, the judge wrote, "This is an example of where the proverbial 'cat is out of the bag'" ... i.e. everyone on the planet's already seen the tape, so it's too late to protect Hulk's privacy.

That said, the judge could still decide to order Gawker to remove the tape if Hulk were to win the case at the end of the day.

But after today's order, it doesn't look good ...

2:00 PM PT -- Bubba played the apology after coming back from a commercial break ... and the audio was sped up and hard to listen to ... just like a legal notice at the end of a car commercial.



Hulk Hogan has settled his lawsuit against his ex-BFF, Bubba the Love Sponge, over the sex tape scandal ... but he is pressing on with his lawsuits against Bubba's ex-wife and Gawker Media.

Financial terms of the settlement were not released, but clearly a public mea culpa from Bubba, real name Todd Alan Clem, was part of the deal.

Bubba released an apology letter today ... saying he now believes Hulk had no idea he was being recorded and that Hulk did not play a part in releasing the tape.

Bubba continues ... "It is my belief that Hulk is not involved, and has not ever been involved, in trying to release the video, or exploit it, or otherwise gain from the video’s release in any way."

Bubba closed the letter by saying he is "committed to helping Hulk and his attorneys find whoever is responsible for the release of the tape."

Hulk is continuing forward with his $100 million lawsuit against Gawker for publishing the tape. He is also seeking damages from Bubba's ex-wife ... the sex tape co-star, Heather Clem.

Hulk Hogan isn't the only guy who was caught on tape with Bubba the Love Sponge's former wife ... TMZ has learned there are multiple tapes ... with multiple men ... in the same exact bed.

TMZ has seen three additional sex tapes featuring Heather Clem with other men -- shot while she was married to Bubba -- and in one of the tapes, she even walks up to the camera to double-check that it's recording. 

In the footage, she tells her mystery partner -- neither Bubba nor Hulk -- "Is this thing recording? Okay, not that I don't trust you but I will get in trouble if it doesn't."

The insinuation -- Heather and Bubba had some kind of agreement in which Heather was allowed to screw other men ... as long as she recorded it.

As for the other two new tapes -- they were both shot in the exact same style as the Hulk tape ... in Bubba's bedroom with an overhead surveillance-type camera. It's unclear if the two men in those tapes knew if they were being recorded.

But as we previously reported, both Bubba AND Heather were aware of the surveillance camera set-up in the bedroom -- and were captured on tape joking about selling the Hogan footage for big money.

We reached out to Heather and Bubba for comment -- no word back.

Bubba the Love Sponge just went on his radio show ... and claimed Hulk Hogan may have played a role in the release of the sex tape ... despite several public denials.

During the show, Bubba made it clear ... he and Hulk are no longer best friends -- in fact, it sounds like they pretty much hate each other's guts.

At one point in the show, Bubba called Hulk a "self-centered" man who has delusionally convinced himself that Nick was innocent in that 2007 car crash, Brooke actually has talent and that Linda is  "whore." Bubba actually defends Linda throughout the show.

Bubba never really denied having anything to do with the sex tape -- but said, "I'm gonna be honest with you, I have not seen the tape ... including me supposedly bragging and being a horse's ass."

We broke the story, there is footage of Bubba on the sex tape ... talking about selling the footage if he ever wanted to be rich enough to retire.

On the radio show, Bubba continued, "At the end of the day, I can't even comment on the validity ... [Hulk] could have had something to do with the leak of it,"

Bubba also touched on the fact that he let Hulk have sex with his then-wife Heather Clem -- saying they all consensually agreed to it and reminding Hulk, "Nobody put a gun to your head."

As we previously reported, Hulk is suing Bubba and Heather over the footage -- claiming they taped him without his consent.

Hulk Hogan just announced ... he's suing for more than $100 MILLION over his leaked sex tape.

Hulk's attorney spoke at a news conference in Tampa moments ago, announcing two lawsuits filed today by the wrestler -- one against Bubba the Love Sponge and his ex-wife for illicitly recording Hulk without his permission, and another against Gawker for publishing the tape.

Hulk's attorney says the wrestler is seeking $100 MILLION in damages from Gawker stemming from the leaked footage. It's unclear what he's seeking from Bubba and Bubba's ex Heather Clem.

In the suit, obtained by TMZ, Hogan claims he "had a reasonable expectation of privacy in his consensual, intimate activities in a private bedroom and reasonably believed that his privacy was safe and protected."

Hulk's attorney says Bubba and Co.'s actions were "illegal, outrageous, and exceeded the bounds of human decency."

In addition to forking over damages, Hulk's team wants Bubba, Gawker, and anyone else in possession of the sex footage to turn it over asap in order for it to be destroyed forever.

Hulk's other attorney David R. Houston also reiterated -- they will continue to go after anyone who republishes the footage with a vengeance.

Hulk Hogan will sue his best friend, Bubba the Love Sponge, for allegedly betraying him by secretly taping Hulk's sexual escapade with Bubba's wife Heather ... TMZ has learned.

We're told ... the lawsuit will be filed in Florida and Hulk will allege invasion of privacy, on grounds Bubba and Heather (also a defendant) conspired to roll tape during her encounter with Hulk.

We broke the story ... in the tape, right after Hulk bangs Heather and leaves the room, Bubba enters and says to Heather, "If we ever did want to retire, all we'd have to do is use this footage."

Hulk said on TMZ Live he was sick to his stomach over the revelation. 

Hulk is also filing a federal lawsuit against the website that posted the tape.

Hulk Hogan is taking his sex tape fight to the big dogs -- contacting the FBI this week to help him track down the low-life who leaked his naked fun time footage to the media ... TMZ has learned.

Hulk's attorney tells TMZ, the wrestler had previously attempted to file a police report in Florida -- but local police couldn't help him for two reasons:

1) Because the tape was recorded in 2006, the four-year statute of limitations had expired on the offense of unlawfully recording Hulk without his permission.

2) The other offense -- distributing the illegal footage to the media -- crosses state lines, so it's a federal problem ... not a local one.

As a result, Hulk's lawyer says he has contacted the FBI to track down the sex tape leaker ... and bring that person to justice.

We're told Hulk plans to meet with FBI agents on Monday.

Hulk Hogan just called in to "TMZ Live" ... and was completely stunned when we told him about the footage of his BFF Bubba the Love Sponge plotting to profit off of his sex tape ... telling us, "I'm sick to my stomach right now."

Hogan says Bubba had adamantly denied having any knowledge about the sex tape ... and told Hulk he didn't know there was a camera capturing Hogan's X-rated session with his former wife Heather Clem.

Hulk says he had warned Bubba ... "If you had anything to do with this, that means we were never friends."

We broke the story ... Bubba appears at the very end of the sex tape, after Hogan had left the room, and told Heather, "If we ever did want to retire, all we'd have to do is use this footage."

Hulk says he is exploring all of his legal options -- and promises someone WILL PAY for recording and releasing the tape.

Hulk Hogan's best friend, Bubba the Love Sponge, not only secretly videotaped Hulk having sex -- he bragged afterwards that the tape was a goldmine that could be the key to Bubba's retirement.

TMZ has seen the last few minutes of Hulk's leaked sex tape -- in which he bangs Bubba's wife Heather Clem.  It's very clear -- Bubba was in on it.  Moments after the deed is done and Hulk leaves, Bubba says to his wife ... "If we ever did want to retire, all we'd have to do is use this footage."

His wife shoots back, "You'd never do that." Bubba then tries to recover, saying, "I wouldn't do that, you'd be the biggest rat, you'd be dead."

The revelation is interesting ... considering Hulk went on the Howard Stern show TODAY and said he and Bubba are still good friends -- and sounded confident Bubba was NOT the culprit.

There's more, TMZ just broke the story ... Hulk is filing a criminal police report in FL and trying to HUNT DOWN whoever leaked the tape -- claiming he was filmed illegally.

Hulk Hogan is turning to cops for help after his sex tape surfaced online last week -- seeking to file a criminal police report with his local PD in Florida ... in the hopes they'll be able to track down whoever leaked the footage ... TMZ has learned.

We've learned Hulk's attorney David R. Houston contacted the St. Petersburg PD this AM, claiming whoever made the tape committed a felony by unlawfully recording Hulk without his consent -- and whoever leaked it broke the law by unlawfully running that footage.

Hulk's hoping a police investigation will lead him to the culprit ... or culprits.

As we reported, Hulk has already fired off a cease-and-desist letter to Gawker, demanding the website remove the minute-long clip it posted, depicting Hulk having sex. So far, the website hasn't removed the footage. 

Hulk told Howard Stern the tape was shot six years ago while he was still married to Linda Hogan, but separated. Hulk said the woman in the tape is radio host Bubba the Love Sponge's estranged wife Heather Clem ... and Bubba gave Hulk permission to bang her.