Uncover - S25 E5: Bubba | "Love, Janessa"

Episode Date: April 2, 2024

“I'm an offensive person.” Can a shock jock radio talk show host help us find Janessa Brazil?Meet Bubba the Love Sponge Clem. Bubba and Janessa used to host his show together and they were even housemates. Did they talk about romance scammers using her images? And does he know where Janessa is now?To hear all episodes of Love, Janessa now, visit here.Transcripts for this series are here.

This is a CBC Podcast. A BBC World Service and CBC Podcast production. Before we start, please note this series contains adult themes and strong language. I'm an offensive person, so you have to know that going into this, please. I tell people, don't Google me. My name is Bubba the Love Sponge, and don't Google me, because it's not good. I've been trying to reach Bubba the Love Sponge for weeks. And yes, I have searched him online. We've called dozens of numbers, sent emails and messages to every account we could find, and spent hours watching episodes of Bubba's

controversial talk show online. And now here he is on a video call with my producers and me. Hi everybody, how are you? There's a lot riding on this interview with Bubba. How's it going? It's going great. I had the day off today so I kind of slept in so I probably sound a little groggy. We really appreciate your time because this has been something that I've been working on since last year, and what a story. And you guys don't even know half of it. Like, I lived with Janessa, the Janessa Brazil.

I have hundreds of these stories. He lived through some of the scammer drama with her, and tried to expose the fake relationships live on air, one scorned lover at a time. While Janessa seems to have left Morning Radio behind, given their history, I'm pretty sure Bubba will know where she's landed. The radio host, known for his provocative content, has a wide smile. He's holding his phone close to his face so his flat-brimmed cap takes up most of the screen.

I hope I can add some insight for you guys. Bubba was in the news a lot a few years ago because of his association with Hulk Hogan, a retired professional wrestler. Bubba considered Hogan his best friend. But then came a sex tape featuring Hogan and Bubba's now ex-wife. The tape was recorded at Bubba's home, stolen from his office, and made public by Gawker, a wildly popular gossip site. Hogan ended up winning a multi-million dollar defamation lawsuit. Gawker Media was

bankrupted. And while the lawsuit was going on, Bubba lost his job. So if anyone knows what it's like to have personal images get away from you, it might be Bubba. He holds the key to unlocking the mystery of Janessa Brazil, at least for me. Baba and Janessa were roommates a few years back when she lived in Florida and co-hosted his daily radio show. It was one of those episodes that reignited my search for Janessa and led me here today. From CBC Podcasts and the BBC World Service, my name is Hannah Ajala, and this is Love, Janessa. The story of my wild quest to find the woman whose face and body is the bait used in catfishing schemes

around the world. Episode 5. Bubba. I'm not sure where Bubba has taken the call. The room is dark, with a bank of red lights behind him. But that question can wait. I want to dive right in. I start to ask my next question. But he's gone. Bubba's just dropped.

After a few tense moments, Bubba's back and hasn't missed a beat. Okay, there I am. Whew, okay. I love your accent, by the way. Are you from UK? Yes, born and raised in East London. When I hear a British accent, I love it. It's so refreshing from the standard stupid American accent I have to hear all the time. Yours has lots of character.

I tuned into your show, actually, over the weekend. The subject area was really fascinating. It was about doing a number two. Yeah, so I say a lot of crazy stuff. And sometimes that gets him in trouble. Over the years, Bubba's been fined by the Federal Communications Commission in the US several times for airing indecent material. Could you give us an intro about what you do in your career? Well, I'll kind of give you an abbreviated version of it because

I've been doing radio for 35 years. So, you know, I started radio as just a little radio guy in 1986 in a little town in Indiana. And, you know, when you first start out, it's kind of like the minor league baseball system where you go from one small city to another small city, and then you eventually get a bigger city. And that's where you can kind of make bigger money and have a bigger audience. And then comes syndication and all that kind of stuff. And I eventually ended up in Tampa, Florida in 92. And I was kind of the anchor of being the wildest guy on the radio. I had things like Redneck Mondays where I made fun of rednecks. I had Lesbian Tuesdays and I caught a lot of crap for that. But my argument back was, so you're mad at me because I am paying homage to lesbians. And that shut them all down.

By now, you probably understand why Bubba warned me at the start of our interview. He likes to push boundaries. That's his brand, really. We've left out some of the more eyebrow-raising comments and haven't even made it through all the days of the week. Thursdays were No Panties Thursday. And I asked my female listeners over 18 not to wear panties on those days and to put their panties, and this was back in 92, 93, where cars still had antennas, so you would then put your panties on your antenna to show support of the show.

So that was kind of how... It's not hard to understand why Bubba attracts all kinds of attention. Over the decades, he's received many complaints, but he's also gained legions of fans who form the Bubba Army. Oh, the Bubba Army is like a religious cult. They do anything for me. My show is funded by my listeners, oddly enough. So yes, I've been so fortunate to be able to establish somewhat of a global thumbprint, enough to be able to make a living on doing what I still love, which is radio. I'm going to get to my questions about Janessa in a minute.

But first, I want to know how Bubba the Love Sponge got his name. He was born Todd Allen Clem in Warsaw, Indiana. Growing up, I've always kind of been a bigger kid. I played football and stuff, and I was always Bubba, Bubba Clem. When he started working in radio, a colleague noticed how much Bubba appreciated the attention of his female fans. So we were on the radio the next day, and this radio guy was like, coming up next, Bubba Clem.

But I saw him at a party a few nights ago, and he was soaking up love like a love sponge. Well, it eventually stuck, and I used it all my career, and then I changed it legally because I ran politically. I ran for sheriff here in Tampa, but I wanted my name to appear as Bubba the Love Sponge on the ballot. Sheriff Love Sponge. He didn't win,

but that would have been an interesting chapter. My driver's license and my passport and everything says Bubba the Love Sponge Clem. And people think I'm being a real smart ass. And when I got married, my wife was Mrs. Bubba the Love Sponge Clem. And people think I'm being a real smartass. And when I got married, my wife was Mrs. Bubba the Love Sponge Clem. I guess the Love Sponge is actually my middle name, but I just tell everybody I'm Bubba Clem.

Partway through our interview, he suggests we take a tour of his studio. I can now see the lights in the background are part of a soundstage. Can you see the stage back there? Oh, yes, I can. I actually have a shower in my studio. Hold on, let me show you. Oh, wow. Okay. It's actually huge. Yeah, it's a very big space. We have bands and stuff on the stage. You can't do some of the stuff I used to, you know.

some of the stuff I used to, you know. I decide not to ask him to elaborate about some of that stuff they used to do. I'm also keen to get to the reason for this call to find out more about Janessa. Let's just go back to the beginning. How did you meet Janessa Brazil? I met Janessa in New York at Howard Stern Studios. And I just thought that, oh my God, she's so stunning.

She was not really a porn star. She had her own website, her members-only website. And she was married at the time, but I found out that they lived in the Tampa area. So we got her information. Soon as we got back to Tampa, we had her on the show. And then she ended up kind of being a regular, you know, we'd have her on every few weeks. And so I have been friends with her since then. And there was a period of like, I think 2019, she actually lived with me. She was also a co-host on my show for about a year.

She was also a co-host on my show for about a year. Baba's affectionate nickname for her during that time was J-Dog. And he confirmed that Janessa is, in fact, a stage name. But her real name is Vanessa. And that's out. That's not like a secret or nothing. At this point, I'm reminded of both Simon and Roberto, the men we've talked to who believe they had been in contact with the real Janessa Brazil. Both of them said the real Janessa's name was Vanessa. But I knew her as Vanessa privately. You know, when she was on the air, she would be Janessa.

And I'd always slip up. I'd either say one or the other. If we were in public, I would say, hey, Janessa, when I was supposed to say Vanessa, and then vice versa on the other. If we were in public, I would say, hey, Janessa, when I was supposed to say Vanessa, and then vice versa on the air. To someone that's never met her, like me, for example, how would you describe her personality? I would say beautifully sassy. But, you know, the expression that beautiful women have insecurities and issues, you know, certainly is appropriate. And not weird or bad ones. It's just that sometimes she would get down on herself a little bit,

just because I don't think that she necessarily, as she, as Janessa gets older, really wants to be in this space anymore. You know, I think she just turned 40. So I think she would like to distance herself from that life, so to speak. Maybe this explains why Janessa seemingly vanished a few years ago. Her digital footprint had become an archive of old posts and images. But according to Bubba, she was taking stock, preparing to shed her cam girl skin and start over. preparing to shed her cam girl skin and start over.

I think her being on my show for a year was kind of a segue out of porn, but yet still in entertainment. She was literally just a co-host, a woman's perspective on a man-skewing show, which was refreshing. So it was a very sad day when she left. And, you know, I wish she was still here. So where did she go? And will Baba be able to help me find her?

Uncover from CBC Podcasts brings you award-winning investigations year-round. But if you want to listen ahead, all episodes of Love, Janessa from CBC and the BBC World Service are available right now. Binge listen to the entire series by searching Love, Janessa. Uncover, the best in true crime. Love Janessa. Uncover the best in true crime. It's 2011 and the Arab Spring is raging. A lesbian activist in Syria starts a blog. She names it Gay Girl in Damascus. Am I crazy? Maybe. As her profile grows, so does the danger. The object of the email was, please read this while sitting down.

It's like a genie came out of the bottle and you can't put it back. Gay Girl Gone. Available now. The more Baba talks, the more I want to understand who Vanessa is and what her connection to the murky world of catfishing might be. She's got a pretty smile, but she's tough. You know, she's got her shit together and she's tough. I now know she's a woman in the process of creating a new life. A woman with a complicated past. A woman with a complicated past. A woman with a dynamic personality and big ambitions.

Both Roberto and Simon thought they'd connected with a woman who'd lost her sense of self. But the more I learn, the less that sounds like the real Janessa. There are still pages missing in her story. Like, why did she end up living with Bubba and co-hosting his radio show? She was having issues with this boyfriend, and her and her husband got a divorce years ago.

And so she was kind of on her own. In Florida, Florida has always been Janessa's security blanket. She has established a ton of great friends down here. She lived here for, I think, well over 10 years. So Florida has kind of always been her bounce back. So she called me and I obviously had some space and wasn't dating anybody at the time. And so I'm like, yeah, why don't you come live with me? We'll hang out and I'll try to incorporate you if I can on the time. And so I'm like, yeah, why don't you come live with me? We'll hang out and I'll try to

incorporate you if I can on the show. So that's kind of how it went down. What kind of friends was she to you? She was a very close friend, you know, that I could have any type of conversation. And we spent many a dinner talking about spirituality and her parents and her mother and her trials and tribulations and I knew a lot of her backstory. We became very, very close. I wondered if any of these dinner table conversations ever got onto the topic of the romance scammers using her image. From the day that I met her and started hanging out with her and her husband, you know, her husband would be like, oh my God, I spend half my day answering emails from men who sent $600 to a

person who is describing themselves as Janessa. And I have to assure them that one, I'm not liable for that. And two, it's not us. I quickly found out that people would take her image and then just start portraying themselves as her for men to send her money. God, I just don't understand how gullible some of these men are. Bubba says he often receives letters and messages from men who have been scammed. She has to be one of the most catfished images just because I get catfishing things weekly from men that think that her and I are still, you know, hanging out, trying to say that I've been scammed by your friend and what are you going to do about it?

He says victims and their lawyers come to him for answers, information, and sometimes for restitution. The one that I just got last week was an attorney from, is it Ghana? And it said, I know that you have connections to Janessa, and she has scammed my client out of like 180,000 euro or whatever. Ghana enters the narrative again. Only this time, according to Baba, it's a Ghanaian lawyer reaching out to get more information about Janessa. His client has allegedly been scammed by people using her images too.

Sakawa boys are not part of this conversation. Just another angry letter asking for answers that won't be found. But many of the writers are convinced Janessa is benefiting somehow. It reminds me of the woman who called into Bubba's radio show asking for help. Her husband had been reeled in by a fake Janessa. We had one guy from Canada call in, and he thought that he was talking to a woman that was Janessa. And Janessa's like, well, you're talking to me now.

Like, this is me. And they're like, oh, no, this isn't the woman I'm talking to. And they were telling me and Janessa that our Janessa was fake and that indeed we were being catfished. But meanwhile, I had the real one here with me. This whole catfishing world, I don't even think people can really wrap their head around it. You know, Janessa was just like, see, this is what, you know, I go through on a daily basis. Because at the end of the day, whether it's the disgruntled wife or the guy that has sent $3,000, if by chance they happen to get a hold of the real Janessa, they really are not happy with her. And in a lot of instances, they want their money back.

She feels horrible about it. She hates it. She wishes that these images weren't out there and stuff. But, you know, the expression they say, when you put something on the internet, it's up forever. You know, even if you delete it, it's there. Despite all of the stress and negative attention, Bubba says Vanessa knows how to shield herself from drama. He thinks her resilience comes from experience. She had a very tough life growing up in Brazil.

And, you know, I guess after the first hundred of these catfishing things, she kind of is very resilient. And for the people that do contact her, she's always super, you know, apologetic and stuff. But she's learned how to kind of compartmentalize and she knows that that world's going to always exist. You know, even when she's 70, there'll be people using that image to shake down, you know, younger people. If it wasn't so depressing, it would be funny to think of scammers using pictures of Janessa

in her 20s, years from now, when she's a senior citizen. Considering how close you were to her as well, would you say that you genuinely see her as the victim? Well, you know, I do see her as a victim. But, you know, she did take those pictures. She did have a very public website that leaned, you know, sexually. And she takes a little responsibility for those images being out there. If she was happy Susie Homemaker and didn't participate in the industry that she

did, perhaps this wouldn't be happening. But I mean, I think she's like 90% the victim. I've had some victims blame Vanessa for putting her images out there in the first place. Others speculate she's the one pulling the strings in the Janessa scam universe, bringing in boatloads of money. But to hear Bubba say that Vanessa is only 90% the victim surprises me. If, as he says, her pictures were stolen without her knowledge, how could she be at fault? Then Bubba comes to her defense, drawing a line between Janessa, the woman we see online,

and Vanessa, the real woman living a real life. Vanessa is a very conventional girl. So I've known about all of her relationships and none of them involved, you know, trying to scam money out of anybody. She's never participated in any of this. And if she needed to ever make money or, you know, she always had a modeling opportunity or a web show or, you know, she didn't need to do that. Because let's not forget, it's illegal as well. It sure is.

But we know the legal system isn't great at cracking down on romance scammers. Our call is winding down, so it's time to ask Bubba one final question. The most important question of our conversation. Will he help us get in touch with Vanessa? We hope that she is happy to speak with us. Oh, I'll get it done. Her and I are so very close. I'll make that contact today.

Music to my ears. It makes sense to me that Bubba and Janessa seem to understand each other in a way most people wouldn't. Each of them exists in an ecosystem that's strange, even disturbing to some outsiders. The shock radio world. The world of adult entertainment. They both gave themselves new names. They both trade in unorthodox behaviours, in exposure. But don't many of us seek out attention and exposure in some way?

There are so many layers to this story, and I finally start to let myself believe that I'm getting closer to Janessa. Especially when Bubba shares her email address. We quickly dash off a message to Vanessa. A minute later, a ping. Has she already replied? No, it's a bounce back message. The recipient's mailbox is full and can't accept messages now. We try again the next day. No bounce back this time. And a few hours later, a response. Sure, happy to chat. Janessa, at last. We set up a video call for later in the week. But I should have known there would be more bumps in the road.

But I should have known there would be more bumps in the road. So 402 was when I responded to her email saying she was 15 minutes late. And then 420 was the email that I sent suggesting Zoom. Should we wait until 5? Yeah, yeah. I was going to say give it ten more minutes. Three video call invites, three no-shows. But then Vanessa responds to a text message and agrees to meet in person. She invites us to her hometown in the eastern US. I'm in Nigeria at the time, so my two producers travel from Toronto for the interview.

Vanessa suggests a trendy midtown Spanish restaurant at 8 o'clock. They have a wait list, so my producers take a seat at the bar. At 8.10, my producer Laura gets a text. I'll be there in a minute. I'm wearing a pink hat. Two minutes later, a man comes through the door and, you guessed it, he's wearing a pink baseball hat. Is it a coincidence? Are pink hats having a fashion moment? Or maybe we're being taken for a ride. A fashion moment.

Or maybe we're being taken for a ride. I can't help but think of all the times Roberto was supposed to speak with he's Janessa. To see her on video. To meet her at the airport. All the excuses she made. We're starting to understand how he felt. After weeks of messaging, I'd never seen or spoken to her. Yet here we are, in a Spanish bar such a long way from home,

operating entirely on faith. Faith that we've been in contact with the real Janessa. So is this guy in the pink baseball hat a scammer, getting the last laugh? And then... a huge pink Balero hat comes through the door. It's not an exaggeration to say that everyone looks up. All eyes are on the striking woman in the tight white jeans and stiletto heels. When she raises her face from under that pink hat and smiles,

we've seen that face before. It's her. Without a doubt. It's Janessa. We are in my bedroom right now where the magic happens. And I mean, where I make my money on webcam. Made my money. What do the words say by your head? Oh, it says dream.

And the little neon sign. That's next time on Love, Janessa. Love, Janessa is produced by Antica Productions and Telltale Industries for the BBC World Service and CBC Podcasts. I'm Hannah Ajala. Our producers are Katrina Onstead and Laura Regehr. Associate producers are Hayley Choi and Simona Ratta. Sound design and audio mix by Philip Wilson and Janine White. Executive producers are Stuart Cox and Jago Lee At CBC Podcasts Emily Cannell is Coordinating Producer Chris Oak is Executive Producer

and Arif Noorani is the Director At the BBC World Service Anne Dixie is Senior Podcast Producer and John Manel is the Podcast Commissioning Editor Thanks for listening.