Hulk Hogan says he was 'humiliated' by sex tape

[MIAMI] Wrestling superstar Hulk Hogan was "humiliated" by a secretly recorded sex video posted on the Internet, he testified Monday, at a trial seeking US$100 million in damages.

Hogan, 62, wearing his trademark black bandana and a massive silver cross, was filmed having consensual sex with the wife of a friend.

"I was completely humiliated," Hogan, one of America's most famous entertainment wrestlers, told the court.

The handlebar-mustached performer - whose real name is Terry Bollea - says his privacy was violated by the publication of the one-minute, 41-second-long steamy encounter.

The sex video was posted by the online news and entertainment site Gawker, the defendant in the suit.

Hogan testified that his friend, radio personality Bubba the Love Sponge Clem had an "open marriage" and wanted to have sex with him.

After several entreaties, Hogan said he finally agreed, not realising that the encounter was secretly recorded.

The trial is expected to last several weeks.

Hogan insists that the posting of the video harmed his personal and professional reputation. It was seen online some seven million times, his attorney said in court.

"This man stood there naked, and exposed, to the world," said his lawyer, Shane Vogt.

"This was a pornographic video that was secretly recorded without Mr Bollea's consent, and they knew it," he said.

A lawyer for Gawker, Michael Berry, insisted however that the recording and posting of celebrity photos and video - even salacious ones - goes with the territory when one is a star.

"The public is fascinated with sex tapes. That's the way it is today," Berry said.

AFP