Larry Claxton Flynt Jr. (; November 1, 1942 – February 10, 2021) was an American publisher and the president of
Larry Flynt Publications
Larry Flynt Publications, or LFP, Inc. is an American business enterprise that owns, manages and operates the adult entertainment businesses founded by American entrepreneur Larry Flynt. Founded in 1976, two years after Flynt began publishing ''H ...
(LFP). LFP mainly produces pornographic magazines, such as ''
Hustler
Hustler or hustlers may also refer to:
Professions
* Hustler, an American slang word, e.g., for a:
** Con man, a practitioner of confidence tricks
** Drug dealer, seller of illegal drugs
** Male prostitute
** Pimp
** Business man, more gener ...
'', pornographic videos, and three pornographic television channels named Hustler TV. Flynt fought several high-profile legal battles involving the
First Amendment
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...
, and unsuccessfully ran for public office. He was paralyzed from the waist down due to injuries sustained in a 1978 assassination attempt by serial killer
Joseph Paul Franklin
Joseph Paul Franklin (born James Clayton Vaughn Jr.; April 13, 1950 – November 20, 2013) was an American white supremacist and serial killer who engaged in a murder spree spanning the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Franklin was convicted of seve ...
.
[ In 2003, '']Arena
An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...
'' magazine listed him at No. 1 on the "50 Powerful People in Porn" list.
Early life
Flynt was born in Lakeville, Magoffin County, Kentucky
Magoffin County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2010 census, the population was 13,333. Its county seat is Salyersville. The county was formed in 1860 from adjacent portions of Floyd, Johnson, and Morgan Counties. ...
, the first of three children of Larry Claxton Flynt Sr. (1919–2005), a sharecropper, and Edith (née Arnett; 1925–1982), a homemaker.[Ancestry of Larry Claxton Flynt](_blank)
at wargs.com He had two younger siblings: sister Judy (1947–1951) and brother Jimmy Ray Flynt (born 1948). His father served in the United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
in the European theatre of World War II
The European theatre of World War II was one of the two main theatres of combat during World War II. It saw heavy fighting across Europe for almost six years, starting with Germany's invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 and ending with the ...
. Due to his father's absence, Flynt was raised solely by his mother and maternal grandmother for the first three years of his life.[ Flynt was raised in poverty, and said Magoffin County was the poorest county in the nation during the Great Depression. In 1951, Flynt's sister, Judy, died of ]leukemia
Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...
at age four. The death provoked his parents' divorce one year later; Flynt was then raised by his mother in Hamlet, Indiana
Hamlet is a town in Davis and Oregon Townships, Starke County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 800 as of the 2010 census.
History
Hamlet was named after John Hamlet, who established the town in 1863.
Two railroad lines once ex ...
, and his brother, Jimmy, was raised by his maternal grandmother in Magoffin County. Two years later, Flynt returned to live in Magoffin County with his father because he disliked his mother's new boyfriend.[
Flynt attended Salyersville High School (now ]Magoffin County High School
Magoffin County High School (MCHS) is a public secondary-level education high school located in Salyersville, Magoffin County, Kentucky and is part of the Magoffin County Public School District. MCHS is the only high school located within Magof ...
) in the ninth grade. However, he ran away from home and, despite being only 15 years old, joined the United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
using a counterfeit birth certificate.[ It was around that time that he developed a passion for the game of ]poker
Poker is a family of comparing card games in which players wager over which hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, however in some places the rules may vary. While the earliest known form of the game w ...
. After being honorably discharged, Flynt returned to his mother in Indiana
Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
and found employment at the Inland Manufacturing Company, an affiliate of General Motors
The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...
. However, there was a union-led slowdown and he was laid off after only three months.[ He then returned to his father in Kentucky. For a brief period, he became a bootlegger but stopped when he learned that county deputies were searching for him.][ After living on his savings for two months, he enlisted in the ]United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
in July 1960. He became a radar operator on . He was the operator on duty when the ship was assigned to recover John Glenn's space capsule.[ He was honorably discharged in July 1964.
]
First enterprises
In early 1965, Flynt took $1,800 (approx. $17,000 in 2022 when adjusted for inflation) from his savings and bought his mother's bar in Dayton, Ohio
Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Day ...
, called the Keewee. He refitted it and was soon making $1,000 a week (approx. $9300 in 2022 when adjusted for inflation); he used the profits to buy two other bars. He worked as many as 20 hours a day and took amphetamines
Substituted amphetamines are a class of compounds based upon the amphetamine structure; it includes all derivative compounds which are formed by replacing, or substituting, one or more hydrogen atoms in the amphetamine core structure with sub ...
to stay awake.[
Flynt decided to open a new, higher-class bar, which would also be the first in the area to feature nude hostess dancers; he named it the ]Hustler Club
The Hustler Club is a series of bars and chain of go-go clubs licensed by ''Hustler'' magazine publisher Larry Flynt.
Early history
Flynt was discharged from the Navy in 1964 where he had served as a radar operator. After this stint in the Nav ...
. From 1968 onward, with the help of his brother Jimmy and later his girlfriend Althea Leasure
Althea Flynt (née Leasure; November 6, 1953 – June 27, 1987) was the co-publisher of Flynt's pornography magazine, ''Hustler,'' and the fourth wife of Larry Flynt.
Early life
Althea Leasure was born November 6, 1953, in Marietta, Ohio. Althe ...
, he opened Hustler Club
The Hustler Club is a series of bars and chain of go-go clubs licensed by ''Hustler'' magazine publisher Larry Flynt.
Early history
Flynt was discharged from the Navy in 1964 where he had served as a radar operator. After this stint in the Nav ...
s in Akron
Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city ...
, Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
, Columbus
Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to:
* Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer
* Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio
Columbus may also refer to:
Places ...
, Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
, and Toledo, Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
. Soon each club grossed between $260,000 and $520,000 a year. He also acquired the Dayton franchise of a small newspaper called ''Bachelor's Beat'', which he published for two years before selling it. At the same time, he closed a money-losing vending-machine business.[
]
''Hustler'' magazine
In January 1972, Flynt created the ''Hustler Newsletter'', a two-page, black-and-white publication about his clubs. This item became so popular with his customers that by May 1972, he expanded the ''Hustler Newsletter'' to 16 pages, then to 32 pages in August 1973. As a result of the 1973 oil crisis
The 1973 oil crisis or first oil crisis began in October 1973 when the members of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC), led by Saudi Arabia, proclaimed an oil embargo. The embargo was targeted at nations that had supp ...
, the American economy entered recession
In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction when there is a general decline in economic activity. Recessions generally occur when there is a widespread drop in spending (an adverse demand shock). This may be triggered by various ...
and the revenues of Hustler Club
The Hustler Club is a series of bars and chain of go-go clubs licensed by ''Hustler'' magazine publisher Larry Flynt.
Early history
Flynt was discharged from the Navy in 1964 where he had served as a radar operator. After this stint in the Nav ...
s declined. Flynt had to refinance his debts or declare bankruptcy. He decided to turn the ''Hustler Newsletter'' into a sexually explicit magazine with national distribution. He paid the start-up costs of the new magazine by deferring payment of sales taxes his clubs owed on their activities.
In July 1974, the first issue of ''Hustler'' was published. Although the first few issues went largely unnoticed, within a year the magazine became highly lucrative, and Flynt was able to pay his tax debts.[ Flynt's friend ]Al Goldstein
Alvin "Al" Goldstein (January 10, 1936December 19, 2013) was an American pornographer. He is known for helping normalize hardcore pornography in the United States.
Background
Goldstein was born in Williamsburg, Brooklyn to a Jewish family. He ...
said that ''Hustler'' took its inspiration from his own tabloid ''Screw'', but credited his comrade in arms with accomplishing what he had not: creating a national publication. In November 1974, ''Hustler'' showed the first "pink-shots", or photos of open vulva
The vulva (plural: vulvas or vulvae; derived from Latin for wrapper or covering) consists of the external female sex organs. The vulva includes the mons pubis (or mons veneris), labia majora, labia minora, clitoris, vestibular bulbs, vulv ...
s.[ Flynt had to fight to publish each issue, as many people, including some at his distribution company, found the magazine too explicit and threatened to remove it from the market. Shortly thereafter, Flynt was approached by a ]paparazzo
Paparazzi (, ; ; singular: masculine paparazzo or feminine paparazza) are independent photographers who take pictures of high-profile people; such as actors, musicians, athletes, politicians, and other celebrities, typically while subjects ...
who had taken pictures of former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis while she was sunbathing
Sun tanning or tanning is the process whereby skin color is darkened or tanned. It is most often a result of exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from sunlight or from artificial sources, such as a tanning lamp found in indoor tanning b ...
nude on vacation in 1971. He purchased them for $18,000 (approx. $98,000 in 2022 when adjusted for inflation) and published them in the August 1975 issue.[ That issue attracted widespread attention, and one million copies were sold within a few days. Now a millionaire, Flynt bought a $375,000 (approx. $2 million in 2022 when adjusted for inflation) mansion.
]
Shooting
On March 6, 1978, during a legal battle related to obscenity in Gwinnett County, Georgia
Gwinnett County ( ) is located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. It forms part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. In 2020, the population was 957,062, making it the second-most populous county in Georgia (after Fulto ...
, Flynt and his lawyer were shot on the sidewalk in Lawrenceville by Joseph Paul Franklin
Joseph Paul Franklin (born James Clayton Vaughn Jr.; April 13, 1950 – November 20, 2013) was an American white supremacist and serial killer who engaged in a murder spree spanning the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Franklin was convicted of seve ...
. The shooting left Flynt partially paralyzed with permanent spinal cord damage, and in need of a wheelchair. Flynt's attorney was seriously wounded. Flynt's injuries caused him constant, excruciating pain, and he was addicted to painkillers
An analgesic drug, also called simply an analgesic (American English), analgaesic (British English), pain reliever, or painkiller, is any member of the group of drugs used to achieve relief from pain (that is, analgesia or pain management). It i ...
until multiple surgeries deadened the affected nerves. He also had a stroke caused by one of several drug overdoses on his analgesic
An analgesic drug, also called simply an analgesic (American English), analgaesic (British English), pain reliever, or painkiller, is any member of the group of drugs used to achieve relief from pain (that is, analgesia or pain management). It ...
medication. He recovered, but had pronunciation difficulties thereafter.
Franklin, a militant white supremacist
White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White s ...
and serial killer
A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A
*
*
*
* with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...
, also shot Vernon Jordan
Vernon Eulion Jordan Jr. (August 15, 1935 – March 1, 2021) was an American business executive and civil rights attorney who worked for various civil rights movement organizations before becoming a close advisor to President Bill Clinton.
Jor ...
; he targeted other black and Jewish people in a killing spree from 1977 to 1980. Violently opposed to 'miscegenation
Miscegenation ( ) is the interbreeding of people who are considered to be members of different races. The word, now usually considered pejorative, is derived from a combination of the Latin terms ''miscere'' ("to mix") and ''genus'' ("race") ...
,' he confessed to the shootings many years later, claiming he was outraged by an interracial
Interracial topics include:
* Interracial marriage, marriage between two people of different races
** Interracial marriage in the United States
*** 2009 Louisiana interracial marriage incident
* Interracial adoption, placing a child of one raci ...
photo shoot in ''Hustler''. About Flynt and a ''Hustler'' pictorial, he stated, "I saw that interracial couple ... having sex ... It just made me sick ... I threw the magazine down and thought, I'm gonna kill that guy." Flynt himself suspected the attack was part of a larger conspiracy involving ultra-right elements surrounding U.S. Representative
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...
Larry McDonald
Lawrence Patton McDonald (April 1, 1935 – September 1, 1983) was an American politician and a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Georgia's 7th congressional district as a Democrat from 1975 until he was killed ...
also behind the Karen Silkwood
Karen Gay Silkwood (February 19, 1946 – November 13, 1974) was an American chemical technician and labor union activist known for raising concerns about corporate practices related to health and safety in a nuclear facility.
She wor ...
case with ties to the Intelligence Community and that Franklin may have been subject to MKULTRA
Project MKUltra (or MK-Ultra) was an illegal human experimentation program designed and undertaken by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), intended to develop procedures and identify drugs that could be used in interrogations to weak ...
-style Mind Control
Brainwashing (also known as mind control, menticide, coercive persuasion, thought control, thought reform, and forced re-education) is the concept that the human mind can be altered or controlled by certain psychological techniques. Brainwashin ...
.
Franklin was never brought to trial for the attack on Flynt. Franklin was eventually charged in Missouri
Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...
with eight unrelated counts of murder and sentenced to death. Flynt expressed his opposition to the death penalty and stated he did not want Franklin to be executed. Franklin was executed by lethal injection on November 20, 2013.
Personal life and death
Flynt was married five times; his wives were:
* Mary Flynt (1961–1965)
* Peggy Mathis (1966–1969)
* Kathy Barr (1970–1975)
* Althea Leasure
Althea Flynt (née Leasure; November 6, 1953 – June 27, 1987) was the co-publisher of Flynt's pornography magazine, ''Hustler,'' and the fourth wife of Larry Flynt.
Early life
Althea Leasure was born November 6, 1953, in Marietta, Ohio. Althe ...
(1976–1987)
* Elizabeth Berrios (1998–2021)
He married his fourth wife, Althea, in 1976, and they remained married for ten years until her death at age 33. Larry reported she had ARC (AIDS-related complex), but drowned in a bathtub in 1987. Toxicology reports were inconclusive. He married his fifth wife, Elizabeth Berrios, in 1998. Flynt had four daughters and a son, as well as many grandchildren. His daughter Lisa Flynt-Fugate died in a car crash in Ohio in October 2014 at age 47.
He said he was an evangelical Christian
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...
for one year, "converted" in 1977 by evangelist Ruth Carter Stapleton
Ruth Carter Stapleton ('' née'' Carter; August 7, 1929 – September 26, 1983) was an American Christian evangelist. She was the youngest sister of United States President Jimmy Carter.
Early life and family
Ruth Carter was born August 7, 192 ...
, the sister of President Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...
. He said he became " born again" and that he had a vision from God while flying with Stapleton in his jet. He continued to publish his magazine, however, vowing to "hustle for God".[ He later declared himself an atheist.
In 1994, Flynt bought a Gulfstream II private jet, which was used in the movie '']The People vs. Larry Flynt
''The People vs. Larry Flynt'' is a 1996 American Biographical film, biographical drama film directed by Miloš Forman, chronicling the rise of pornographer Larry Flynt and his subsequent clash with religious institutions and the law. It stars Wo ...
''. In 2005, he replaced it with a Gulfstream IV
The Gulfstream IV (or G-IV or GIV) and derivatives are a family of twinjet aircraft, mainly for private or business use. They were designed and built by Gulfstream Aerospace, a General Dynamics company based in Savannah, Georgia, United State ...
. At the time of his death, he resided in the Hollywood Hills
The Hollywood Hills are a residential neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California.
Geography
The Hollywood Hills straddle the Cahuenga Pass within the Santa Monica Mountains.
The neighborhood touches Studio City, Univer ...
.
Flynt said he had bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder, previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of depression and periods of abnormally elevated mood that last from days to weeks each. If the elevated mood is severe or associated with ...
.
Flynt died from heart failure in Los Angeles on February 10, 2021, at age 78.
Flynt's enterprises
By 1970, he ran eight strip clubs
Strip or Stripping may refer to:
Places
* Aouzou Strip, a strip of land following the northern border of Chad that had been claimed and occupied by Libya
* Caprivi Strip, narrow strip of land extending from the Okavango Region of Namibia to ...
throughout Ohio in Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
, Toledo, Akron
Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city ...
, and Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
.
In July 1974, Flynt first published ''Hustler
Hustler or hustlers may also refer to:
Professions
* Hustler, an American slang word, e.g., for a:
** Con man, a practitioner of confidence tricks
** Drug dealer, seller of illegal drugs
** Male prostitute
** Pimp
** Business man, more gener ...
'' as a step forward from the ''Hustler Newsletter'', which was advertising for his businesses. The magazine struggled for the first year, partly because many distributors and wholesalers refused to handle it as its nude photos became increasingly graphic. It targeted working-class men and grew from a shaky start to a peak circulation of around three million. The publication of nude paparazzi pictures of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in August 1975 was a major coup. ''Hustler'' has often featured more explicit photographs than comparable magazines and has contained depictions of women that some find demeaning, such as a naked woman in a meat grinder or presented as a dog on a leash – though Flynt later said that the meat grinder image was a criticism of the pornography industry itself.
Flynt created his privately held company Larry Flynt Publications
Larry Flynt Publications, or LFP, Inc. is an American business enterprise that owns, manages and operates the adult entertainment businesses founded by American entrepreneur Larry Flynt. Founded in 1976, two years after Flynt began publishing ''H ...
(LFP) in 1976. LFP published several other magazines and also controlled distribution of the various titles. LFP launched ''Ohio Magazine'' in 1977, and later its output included other mainstream work. LFP sold the distribution business, as well as several mainstream magazines, beginning in 1996. LFP started to produce pornographic movie
Pornographic films (pornos), erotic films, sex films, and 18+ films are films that present sexually explicit subject matter in order to arouse and satisfy the viewer. Pornographic films present sexual fantasies and usually include erotical ...
s in 1998, through the Hustler Video
Hustler Booth at the Sands Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada on January 7, 2010.">Sands_Expo.html" ;"title="AVN Adult Entertainment Expo at the Sands Expo">Sands Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada on January 7, 2010.
Hustler Video is an Ame ...
film studio, which purchased VCA Pictures
VCA Pictures (Video Company of America) is an American pornographic film production and distribution company. The company was founded by Russ Hampshire, and was formerly a major player during the 'Golden Age of Porn'. Throughout the 1970s and 198 ...
in 2003. In 2014, Flynt said his print portfolio made up only 10% of his company's revenue, and predicted the demise of ''Hustler'' due to competition from the Internet.
On June 22, 2000, Flynt opened the Hustler Casino, a card room located in the Los Angeles suburb of Gardena. Other ventures which were wholly owned or licensed by Flynn or are wholly owned or licensed by LFP, Inc. include the Hustler Clubs and the Hustler Hollywood Store. LFP also publishes '' Barely Legal'', a pornographic magazine featuring young women who reportedly have recently turned 18, the minimum age for a person to appear in pornography in the US.
Legal battles
Flynt was embroiled in many legal battles regarding the regulation of pornography and free speech
Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recog ...
within the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, especially attacking the ''Miller v. California
''Miller v. California'', 413 U.S. 15 (1973), was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court modifying its definition of obscenity from that of "utterly without socially redeeming value" to that which lacks "serious literary, artistic, polit ...
'' (1973) obscenity exception to the First Amendment
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...
. He was first prosecuted on obscenity and organized crime charges in Cincinnati in 1976 by Simon Leis, who headed a local anti-pornography committee. He was given a sentence of 7–25 years in prison, but served only six days in jail; the sentence was overturned on appeal following allegations of prosecutorial misconduct, as well as judicial and jury bias. One argument resulting from this case was reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
in 1981. Flynt made an appearance in a feature film based on the trial, ''The People vs. Larry Flynt
''The People vs. Larry Flynt'' is a 1996 American Biographical film, biographical drama film directed by Miloš Forman, chronicling the rise of pornographer Larry Flynt and his subsequent clash with religious institutions and the law. It stars Wo ...
'' (1996), playing the judge who sentenced him in the case.
Outraged by a derogatory cartoon published in ''Hustler'' in 1976, Kathy Keeton, then girlfriend of ''Penthouse'' publisher Bob Guccione
Robert Charles Joseph Edward Sabatini Guccione ( ; December 17, 1930 – October 20, 2010) was an American photographer and publisher. He founded the adult magazine '' Penthouse'' in 1965. This was aimed at competing with Hugh Hefner's ''Playboy' ...
, filed a libel suit against Flynt in Ohio. Her lawsuit was dismissed because she had missed the deadline under the statute of limitations
A statute of limitations, known in civil law systems as a prescriptive period, is a law passed by a legislative body to set the maximum time after an event within which legal proceedings may be initiated. ("Time for commencing proceedings") In ...
. She then filed a new lawsuit in New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...
, where ''Hustler''s sales were very small. The question of whether she could sue there reached the U.S. Supreme Court in 1983, with Flynt losing the case. This case is occasionally reviewed today in first-year law school Civil Procedure
Civil procedure is the body of law that sets out the rules and standards that courts follow when adjudicating civil lawsuits (as opposed to procedures in criminal law matters). These rules govern how a lawsuit or case may be commenced; what kin ...
courses, due to its implications regarding personal jurisdiction
Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, and federal levels.
Jur ...
over a defendant.
During the proceedings in '' Keeton v. Hustler Magazine'', Flynt reportedly shouted "Fuck this court!" and called the justices "nothing but eight assholes and a token cunt" (referring to Justice Sandra Day O'Connor
Sandra Day O'Connor (born March 26, 1930) is an American retired attorney and politician who served as the first female associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1981 to 2006. She was both the first woman nominated and th ...
). Chief Justice Warren E. Burger
Warren Earl Burger (September 17, 1907 – June 25, 1995) was an American attorney and jurist who served as the 15th chief justice of the United States from 1969 to 1986. Born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Burger graduated from the St. Paul Colleg ...
had him arrested for contempt of court, but the charge was later dismissed.
Also in 1983, he leaked an FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...
surveillance tape to the media regarding John DeLorean
John Zachary DeLorean (January 6, 1925 – March 19, 2005) was an American engineer, inventor, and executive in the U.S. automobile industry, widely known for his work at General Motors and as founder of the DeLorean Motor Company.
DeLorean man ...
. In the videos, when arresting DeLorean, the FBI is shown asking him whether he would rather defend himself or have "his daughter's head smashed in". During the subsequent trial, Flynt wore a U.S. flag
The national flag of the United States of America, often referred to as the ''American flag'' or the ''U.S. flag'', consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the ca ...
as a diaper and was jailed for six months for desecration of the flag.
In 1988, Flynt won a Supreme Court decision, ''Hustler Magazine v. Falwell
''Hustler Magazine, Inc. v. Falwell'', 485 U.S. 46 (1988), was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court ruling that the First and Fourteenth Amendments prohibit public figures from recovering damages for the tort of intentional inf ...
'', after being sued by Reverend Jerry Falwell in 1983, over an offensive ad parody in ''Hustler'' that suggested that Falwell's first sexual encounter was with his mother in an outhouse
An outhouse is a small structure, separate from a main building, which covers a toilet. This is typically either a pit latrine or a bucket toilet, but other forms of dry (non-flushing) toilets may be encountered. The term may also be used ...
. Falwell sued Flynt, citing "emotional distress
In medicine, distress is an aversive state in which a person is unable to completely adapt to stressors and their resulting stress and shows maladaptive behaviors. It can be evident in the presence of various phenomena, such as inappropriate so ...
" caused by the ad. The decision clarified that public figures cannot recover damages for "intentional infliction of emotional distress" based on parodies. After Falwell's death, Flynt said despite their differences, he and Falwell had become friends over the years, adding, "I always appreciated his sincerity even though I knew what he was selling and he knew what I was selling."
As a result of a sting operation in April 1998, Flynt was charged with a number of obscenity-related offenses concerning the sale of sex videos to a youth in a Cincinnati adult store he owned. In a plea agreement in 1999, LFP, Inc. (Flynt's corporate holdings group) pleaded guilty to two counts of pandering obscenity and agreed to stop selling adult videos in Cincinnati.
In June 2003, prosecutors in Hamilton County, Ohio, attempted to revive criminal charges of pandering obscene material against Flynt and his brother Jimmy Flynt, charging that they had violated the 1999 agreement. Flynt said that he no longer had an interest in the Hustler Shops and that prosecutors had no basis for the lawsuit.
In January 2009, Flynt filed suit against two nephews, Jimmy Flynt II and Dustin Flynt, for the use of his family name in producing pornography. He regarded their pornography to be inferior. He prevailed on the main trademark infringement
Trademark infringement is a violation of the exclusive rights attached to a trademark without the authorization of the trademark owner or any licensees (provided that such authorization was within the scope of the licence). Infringement may ...
issue, but lost on invasion of privacy claims.
In May 2021, VICE News
Vice News (stylized as VICE News) is Vice Media's current affairs channel, producing daily documentary essays and video through its website and YouTube channel. It promotes itself on its coverage of "under-reported stories". Vice News was create ...
published and reported on a copy of Flynt's 322-page FBI file, which the outlet obtained through a Freedom of Information Act Freedom of Information Act may refer to the following legislations in different jurisdictions which mandate the national government to disclose certain data to the general public upon request:
* Freedom of Information Act 1982, the Australian act
* ...
(FOIA) request. It contained details of his 1983 arrest for disrupting the U.S. Supreme Court during the ''Keeton'' hearing and the unconfirmed claim of a confidential informant that Flynt had asked a mercenary to rig his wheelchair with C-4 explosives so he could blow himself up during that same hearing, taking all of the justices with him.
Politics
Flynt was a Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
when Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
was president. In 2013, he said he was "a civil libertarian
Civil libertarianism is a strain of political thought that supports civil liberties, or which emphasizes the supremacy of individual rights and personal freedoms over and against any kind of authority (such as a state, a corporation, social no ...
to the core", though he once attempted a presidential run as a Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
in 1984. He was a staunch critic of the Warren Commission
The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, known unofficially as the Warren Commission, was established by President Lyndon B. Johnson through on November 29, 1963, to investigate the assassination of United States P ...
and offered $1 million for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the assassin of John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...
. In 2003, Flynt was a candidate in the recall election
A recall election (also called a recall referendum, recall petition or representative recall) is a procedure by which, in certain polities, voters can remove an elected official from office through a referendum before that official's term of of ...
of California governor Gray Davis, calling himself a "smut peddler who cares". He finished seventh in a field of 135 candidates with 17,458 votes (0.2%).
Flynt repeatedly weighed in on public debates by trying to expose conservative or Republican politicians with sexual scandals. He did so during the impeachment proceedings against President Clinton in 1998, offering $1 million for evidence and publishing the results in ''The Flynt Report''. These publications led to the resignation of incoming House Speaker Bob Livingston
Robert Linlithgow Livingston Jr. (born April 30, 1943) is an American lobbyist and politician who served as a U.S. Representative from Louisiana from 1977 to 1999. A Republican, he was chosen as Newt Gingrich's successor as Speaker of the U.S. ...
. In 2007, Flynt repeated his $1 million offer and also wrote the foreword to Joseph Minton Amann and Tom Breuer's ''The Brotherhood of Disappearing Pants: A field guide to conservative sex scandals'', which contained some cases published by Flynt.
In 2003, Flynt purchased nude photographs of former PFC Jessica Lynch
Jessica Dawn Lynch (born April 26, 1983) is an American teacher, actress, and former United States Army soldier who served in the 2003 invasion of Iraq as a private first class.
On March 23, 2003, she was serving as a unit supply specialist ...
, who was captured by Iraqi forces, rescued from an Iraqi hospital by U.S. troops and celebrated as a hero by the media. He said he would never show any of the photographs, calling Lynch a "good kid" who became "a pawn for the government". Flynt supported activist groups opposed to the war in Iraq
This is a list of wars involving the Republic of Iraq and its predecessor states.
Other armed conflicts involving Iraq
* Wars during Mandatory Iraq
** Ikhwan raid on South Iraq 1921
* Smaller conflicts, revolutions, coups and periphery confli ...
in 2004 and 2005. He was a strong supporter of LGBT rights
Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender ( LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality.
Notably, ...
and same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...
.
In 2012, Flynt offered a $1 million reward for information on Mitt Romney's unreleased tax returns and ran two full-page ads in ''USA Today
''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
'' and ''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' to promote the offer.
Flynt endorsed Mark Sanford
Marshall Clement "Mark" Sanford Jr. (born May 28, 1960) is an American politician and author who served as the U.S. Representative for South Carolina's 1st congressional district from 1995 to 2001 and again from 2013 to 2019, and also as the ...
in the 2013 special election for South Carolina's 1st congressional district
The 1st congressional district of South Carolina is a coastal congressional district in South Carolina, represented by Republican Nancy Mace since January 3, 2021. She succeeded Democrat Joe Cunningham, having defeated him in the 2020 elect ...
, saying "His open embrace of his mistress in the name of love, breaking his sacred marriage vows, was an act of bravery that has drawn my support."
In January 2015, following the attack on Charlie Hebdo, Larry Flynt criticized the American media for refusing to broadcast the caricatures of Mohammed from the satirical weekly.
In May 2015, Flynt endorsed Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
in the 2016 presidential election. In an interview with ''Marfa Journal'' later that year, he described his political views as " progressively liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
".
In October 2017, Flynt offered a $10 million reward for any evidence that would lead to the impeachment of President Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
. A 2019 Christmas card from Larry Flynt Publications, sent to several Republican congressmen, depicted Trump's assassination.
Allegations of incest, misogyny, and racism
Flynt's daughter, Tonya Flynt-Vega, accused him of sexually abusing her as a child.[ In the 1998 book, ''Hustled: My Journey from Fear to Faith'', Flynt-Vega writes about her father showing her images from ''Hustler'' and while he did so, he began touching her, had her remove her bathing suit, assaulted her orally, then showed her his erection and tried to penetrate her. She writes, "The pain was intense. I know I was hurt. Dad had not penetrated e"] She described an exchange with her father after he knew she planned to publish a book describing his abuses of her: "He called me at work one day and said ''‘If you don't back-off that book, I'll send somebody to wring your xpletiveneck.’'' ... He's 'Mr. Free Speech', but he's threatening to kill somebody for writing a book."[ Flynt denied his daughter's accusation of sexual abuse on several occasions. But he did acknowledge he had not been a good parent to Flynt-Vega. "She's looking for attention, and she's looking to get back at me, as her father, for not being there when she really needed me," he said in one response. In another interview, he stated, "Anyone who knows me knows my sexual preference. It's not children, especially my own."
''Hustler'' cartoonist and humor editor, Dwaine B. Tinsley, created the comic feature called "]Chester the Molester
''Chester the Molester'' (also known as Chester the Protector) was a comic strip by Dwaine B. Tinsley (December 31, 1945 – May 23, 2000), ''Hustler'' magazine's cartoon editor. Tinsley produced the strip for 13 years. The premise of the strip wa ...
". It was a monthly part of the magazine for 13 years. In the comic, the main character endeavors through various means to molest and otherwise sexually assault girls and women. In 1989, Tinsley was arrested, charged with molesting his daughter from age 13–18. Tinsley was convicted of that charge on January 5, 1990. His conviction was overturned in 1992 when an appeals court ruled that the jury should not have seen cartoons drawn by Tinsley. The prosecutor in the case ultimately decided not to retry Tinsley, who served 23 months of a six-year sentence. Flynt claims he didn't ask Tinsley about the conviction and "Chester the Molester" cartoons drawn while in prison continued to appear in ''Hustler''. He also defended Tinsley, calling him "a genius" and "at one time in America in the Seventies and Eighties the most brilliant and recognized cartoonist in America."
In addition to child molestation, the rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ...
of adult women is a common theme in many of his magazines, including ''Hustler''. A photo pictorial titled "The naked and the dead", depicted an imprisoned woman being forcibly shaved, sexually assaulted, raped, and electrocuted. In the January 1983 issue of ''Hustler'', there was a photographic pictorial called "Dirty pool". It depicted a woman on a pool table being sexually assaulted and gang raped by four men. In early March 1983, 21 year-old Cheryl Araujo was gang raped on a pool table by four men in New Bedford
New Bedford (Massachusett: ) is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts. It is located on the Acushnet River in what is known as the South Coast region. Up through the 17th century, the area was the territory of the Wampanoag Native American pe ...
. At the time, some coverage took on xenophobic
Xenophobia () is the fear or dislike of anything which is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression of perceived conflict between an in-group and out-group and may manifest in suspicion by the one of the other's activities, a ...
overtones, blaming the crime not only on the victim but on the Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
community as a whole. Flynt created a fake postcard featuring a naked woman on a pool table with the caption, "Greetings from New Bedford, Massachusetts, the Portuguese gang-rape capital of America."
Criticizing the sanitizing scope of the 1996 film, ''The People vs. Larry Flynt
''The People vs. Larry Flynt'' is a 1996 American Biographical film, biographical drama film directed by Miloš Forman, chronicling the rise of pornographer Larry Flynt and his subsequent clash with religious institutions and the law. It stars Wo ...
'', feminist Gloria Steinem
Gloria Marie Steinem (; born March 25, 1934) is an American journalist and social-political activist who emerged as a nationally recognized leader of second-wave feminism in the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Steinem was a c ...
detailed his depictions of misogyny: "What's left out f the film
F, or f, is the sixth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ef'' (pronounced ), and the plural is ''efs''.
Hist ...
are the magazine's images of women being beaten, tortured, and raped; women subject to degradations from bestiality to sexual slavery." Steinem also addressed what she saw as the hypocrisy of him being regarded as a protector of everyone's free speech, noting "other feminists and I have been attacked in ''Hustler'' for using our First Amendment
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...
rights to protest pornography." The film's director, Miloš Forman, a native of the former Czechoslovakia, rebutted these and similar feminist critiques, explaining that if he had used such extreme pornographic content, he would not have been able to make the film, which was rated "R". Forman, whose parents were victims of the Nazis, said he made the movie "out of admiration for the beauty and wisdom of the American Constitution, which allows this country to rise to its best when provoked by the worst". Others also viewed the film as historical revisionism, portraying a heroic Flynt. ''Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'' noted the "magazine's racist and anti-Semitic overtones – one ''Hustler'' cartoon showed a black man reaching for a watermelon on a giant mousetrap – is also nowhere to be found." His daughter Tonya also spoke out against the film.
In real life, Flynt did not shy away from rationalizing his publication of taboo content and humor, claiming that his goal was to "offend every single person in this world at some point", and pointing out that "If the First Amendment will protect a scumbag like me then it will protect all of you, because I'm the worst." He defended himself against allegations of misogyny, stating that he supported abortion rights, same-sex marriage and equality, while at the same time offering harsh assessments of his feminist critics and embracing the magazine's crude, sometimes bigoted depictions.
Feminist author Laura Kipnis
Laura Kipnis is an American cultural critic and essayist. Her work focuses on sexual politics, gender issues, aesthetics, popular culture, and pornography. She began her career as a video artist, exploring similar themes in the form of video ess ...
compared Flynt to the ribald, French Renaissance satirist Rabelais, saying that she saw ''Hustler'' "as really dedicated to violating the proprieties that uphold class distinctions", and calling it "one of the most class-antagonistic publications in the country".
Works about Flynt
Books
*
*
*
Films
* (Based on his life, featuring Woody Harrelson
Woodrow Tracy Harrelson (born July 23, 1961) is an American actor and playwright. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards, in addition to nominations for three Academy Award ...
in the title role. Flynt makes cameo appearances as a judge and jury member.)
*
* (Interview with Flynt)
* ''Larry Flynt for President'' (2021) (documentary film). Director Nadia Szold
Nadia Szold (born 28 September 1984) is a film director, producer and writer. She began working in theater in her teens in New England. After reading ''Waiting for Godot'' at 17, Nadia Szold formed Cojones Company. Fourteen plays later, she founde ...
.
Autobiography
*
Other
Flynt appears in the music video "Afraid
To be afraid is to have the emotional response of fear to threats or danger.
Afraid may also refer to:
* "Afraid" (Mötley Crüe song), 1997
* "Afraid" (The Neighbourhood song), 2013
* "Afraid" (David Bowie song), 2002
* "Afraid", a song by Va ...
" by the American rock band Mötley Crüe which first aired on June 9, 1997.
In January 2019, Flynt discussed the importance of freedom and voting in America when he was interviewed by ''Weekly Alibi
''Weekly Alibi'', commonly referred to as ''The Alibi'', was a free weekly news, arts, culture, and entertainment newspaper and website in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The main features were the website's award-winning news section, featuring cultur ...
s August March.
References
External links
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flynt, Larry
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