Larry+Flynt

Wonil Chung

**Larry Flynt** **Introduction** Larry Flynt is an American publisher, who is best known for founding //Hustler//, a pornographic magazine. He is also known for being the owner of Larry Flynt Publications, an adult entertainment company that produces various pornographic films and magazines, as well as a chain of strip clubs, known as “Hustler Clubs.” Flynt has become famous over the years for his many legal battles involving the First Amendment, which were famously portrayed in the 1996 movie, //The People vs. Larry Flynt//. **Abridged Biography** Larry Flynt was born in Lakeville, Kentucky on November 1, 1942, the oldest of three children. Flynt’s parents divorced when he was ten years old, leading him to spend much of his early life splitting time between his mother and father. He had a turbulent life in his teenage years, running away from home multiple times, once joining the United States Army using a counterfeit birth certificate (Flynt & Ross, 1996). In 1965, Flynt bought his mother’s bar in Dayton, Ohio, refurbishing it and soon turning a profit. Three years later, he opened a new bar with naked dancers, naming it the Hustler Club. Due to its popularity, in the years that followed, Flynt, with his brother, opened Hustler Clubs in various locations throughout Ohio. In 1972, Flynt started the //Hustler Newsletter//, about his Hustler Clubs. The newsletter became so popular that it quickly expanded. However, in 1973, due to the oil crisis, which led to the recession of the economy, business started going down. As a result, Flynt made the decision to change the //Hustler Newsletter// to a sexually explicit magazine, renaming it //Hustler//. A 1974, //Hustler// started going into publication. Even though there were low sales initially, by the end of the first year, the magazine was becoming very successful. Due to the sexually explicit nature of the magazine, Flynt soon began to face lawsuits regarding obscenity and the First Amendment, which he later became famous for. In March of 1978, while facing obscenity charges in Georgia, Flynt, along with his local lawyer, were shot by a sniper, purportedly by a White supremacist who was furious over an interracial photo shoot in //Hustler//. As a result of the shooting, Flynt became paralyzed from the waist down. Today, Larry Flynt is known as one of the most influential and powerful people in the adult entertainment industry. **Hustler** //Hustler//, at the time of its original publication, was known for pushing the boundaries of what was deemed acceptable to print and publish. //Hustler// was one of the first magazines to break taboos that were present in the early seventies, being much more sexually explicit than similar magazines like //Playboy// (Kipnis, 1996). In November of 1974, less than a year after it went into publication, //Hustler// showed pictures of open vulvas (Flynt & Ross, 1996). This was reportedly the first time such pictures were included in magazines, with Flynt having to fight to keep the pictures in the issue. //Hustler// ’s cartoons were also notorious for pushing the boundaries, as well. The cartoons featured in the magazine covered topics that most other magazines would not touch, such as incest, gang rape, and pedophilia. In fact, one of its best-known cartoons, “Chester the Molester,” revolved around a pedophile and his attempts to molest children. Another cartoon, “Honey Hooker,” about a very promiscuous woman, was one of the first of its kind to openly portray the character as being a whore, unlike its counterpart in other men’s magazines such as //Penthouse// and //Playboy//. //Hustler// also became famous for its pictures of a nude Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis sunbathing, which was featured in the August 1975 issue and was attributed to the magazine’s rise in popularity (Flynt & Ross, 1996). **Hustler Magazine v. Falwell** The lawsuit brought against Larry Flynt by Jerry Falwell was the most notable of all the charges and lawsuits Flynt faced throughout his lifetime. Hustler Magazine v. Falwell was especially noteworthy because the case was eventually brought to the Supreme Court. In 1983, //Hustler// parodied a series of advertisements for Campari, an Italian aperitif, which featured joke interviews with celebrities talking about their “first time.” To parody the advertisement campaign, //Hustler// ran a made up Campari advertisement, which featured an “interview” with Jerry Falwell, a famous Protestant minister. The interview had Falwell saying that his first time having sexual intercourse was with his mother in an outhouse, while they were “drunk off [their] God-fearing asses on Campari.” The parody continued with “Falwell” saying that he regularly had sex with his mother, and that he got drunk before speaking at the pulpit. As a result of the parody, Jerry Falwell sued Larry Flynt, along with his company, for libel and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Although Flynt lost originally, he successfully appealed for the case to be brought to the Supreme Court. Eventually, the Supreme Court ruled in Flynt’s favor, with the decision that a public figure cannot recover for intentional infliction of emotional distress caused by a publication “without showing in addition that the publication contains a false statement of fact which was made with actual malice” (Tedford & Herbeck, 2009). The case of Hustler Magazine v. Falwell and the Supreme Court’s decision was very significant, as it helped set a precedent for similar cases that came afterwards. This case had a prominent role in the 1996 film, //The People vs. Larry Flynt//, about his life. **Involvement in Lewinsky Scandal** Larry Flynt became involved in the Lewinsky Scandal when he felt that President Bill Clinton was unfairly being singled out and criticized in his impeachment trial, saying, “I have one goal and one goal only: to expose the hypocrisy on Capitol Hill.” Flynt famously bought a full-page advertisement in the Washington Post in October of 1998, offering $1 million to anyone who could prove having an extramarital affair with a government official (Calvert & Richards, 1999). Flynt was quoted as saying, “Those who’ve decided to set themselves up as judges of sex and lies should themselves be judged” (Carlson, 1998). Flynt’s efforts resulted in multiple government officials being caught, such as Robert Barr of the House of Representatives, who was found to have had an affair in 1985. Barr was also found to have paid for an abortion in 1983, despite the fact that he was a pro-life advocate. Although Flynt was roundly criticized for his involvement in outing the extramarital affairs of government officials, he was also defended by those who said that he was “pushing the envelope” and “testing the boundaries” while still being informative (Calvert & Richards, 1999).

**References** Calvert, C., & Richards, R. D. (1999). Defending Larry Flynt: Why attacking Flynt's "outing" of sexual affairs is misguided [Electronic version]. //Hastings communications and entertainment law journal//, //21// (4), 687-693. Carlson, M. (1998, October 19). Indecent proposal [Electronic version]. //Time//, //152// (16). Flynt, L., & Ross, K. (1996). //An unseemly man: My life as a pornographer, pundit and social outcast//. Kipnis, L. (1996). //Bound and gagged: Pornography and the politics of fantasy in America//. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. //Larry Flynt// [Photograph]. Retrieved from http://uvtblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/larry_flynt.jpg //Parody ad// [Photograph]. Retrieved from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5d/Falwellhustler.jpg Tedford, T. L., & Herbeck, D. A. (2009). //Freedom of speech in the United States// (6th ed.). State College, PA: Strata Publishing Inc. Retrieved April 9, 2011, from http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/comm/free_speech/hustler.html