Celebrity Death: Larry Flynt, 78 (HUSTLER publisher)

[DoyleG]

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[Hasbro]

God rest his smutty soul.

Say what you will about Flynt (and there is plenty!) he was was a legitimate 1st Amendment martyr.

 

[Jumptheshark]

impressed everyone is behaving themselves. I thought about posting this thread--but I was concerned about the debate

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

Love him or hate him and his content, you can't deny he was crucial in fighting against censorship and protecting the 1st amendment.

 

[Deadpool8812]

Honestly thought he died years ago

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

RIP

 

[John Price]

RIP

 

[chicagoskycam]

All I have to say is the movie was great, especially Ed Norton as his attorney. Woody did a good job as well.

I have to admit I thought he passed years ago. RIP

 

[PanthersPens62]

RIP

 

[End on a Hinote]

RIP

I always thought he was a politician until several years ago mainly because of his political sounding name and the Woody Harrelson movie which I never actually saw until I found out who he really was.

 

[ItsFineImFine]

I watched the film a few weeks ago and commented that I'd never heard of Larry Flynt despite knowing who Hugh Hefner was as a child (and not because I was looking at Playboy). I find it strange how Hefner was so prominent in culture despite Flynt's actions being far more significant.

 

[Osprey]

I watched the film a few weeks ago and commented that I'd never heard of Larry Flynt despite knowing who Hugh Hefner was as a child (and not because I was looking at Playboy). I find it strange how Hefner was so prominent in culture despite Flynt's actions being far more significant.

I haven't seen the movie, but I wouldn't be surprised if it made it seem like his actions were more significant than they were. Flynt and Hustler didn't come along until the sexual revolution was well underway and rode on the coattails of and tried to be more explicit and controversial than Hefner and Playboy, who had been around for over 20 years. Flynt basically ended up being significant only because he allowed an offensive ad to be published, was sued for defamation and won the case, setting a precedent for free speech cases to come. It doesn't seem to me like he deserves a whole lot of credit.

Hefner was much more prominent in culture because he started Playboy before the sexual revolution and helped spark it and because he and it were more acceptable to the public. The magazine had pictures that were relatively modest and high quality articles and interviews, not to mention short stories by well-known authors. It was a joke that one read Playboy for the articles, but there was a little truth in it because the magazine's written content and popularity did help legitimize it in culture. Also, the lifestyle that Hefner represented was attractive to men who similarly wanted to be rich and surrounded by women. Playboy was sort of a lifestyle magazine for men and there was less shame in reading it. Hustler, on the other hand, was pornography and deliberately controversial. Flynt also wasn't attractive and was confined to a wheelchair. He and his magazine came across as dirty and sleazy. In fact, they may've even helped Hefner's and Playboy's reputations and prominence in culture, because the latter ended up looking even classier and more glamorous in comparison.

 

[chicagoskycam]

I haven't seen the movie, but I wouldn't be surprised if it made it seem like his actions were more significant than they were. Flynt and Hustler didn't come along until the sexual revolution was well underway and rode on the coattails of and tried to be more explicit and controversial than Hefner and Playboy, who had been around for over 20 years. Flynt basically ended up being significant only because he allowed an offensive ad to be published, was sued for defamation and won the case, setting a precedent for free speech cases to come. It doesn't seem to me like he deserves a whole lot of credit.

Hefner was much more prominent in culture because he started Playboy before the sexual revolution and helped spark it and because he and it were more acceptable to the public. The magazine had pictures that were relatively modest and high quality articles and interviews, not to mention short stories by well-known authors. It was a joke that one read Playboy for the articles, but there was a little truth in it because the magazine's written content and popularity did help legitimize it in culture. Also, the lifestyle that Hefner represented was attractive to men who similarly wanted to be rich and surrounded by women. Playboy was sort of a lifestyle magazine for men and there was less shame in reading it. Hustler, on the other hand, was pornography and deliberately controversial. Flynt also wasn't attractive and was confined to a wheelchair. He and his magazine came across as dirty and sleazy. In fact, they may've even helped Hefner's and Playboy's reputations and prominence in culture, because the latter ended up looking even classier and more glamorous in comparison.

the movie is worth the watch - something you left out is some of the major stories he was the 1st to break and refused to reveal the sources

 

[Know Your Enemy]

:,'?.

 

[Osprey]

the movie is worth the watch - something you left out is some of the major stories he was the 1st to break and refused to reveal the sources

I don't know of the stories that you're talking about, but my guess is that he broke them because he paid for them and refused to reveal his sources in order to keep them and not incriminate himself if the information was illegally obtained. It seems to me that he was like TMZ before TMZ and I'm hesitant to give that type of "journalism" much credit, myself.

 

[chicagoskycam]

I don't know of the stories that you're talking about, but my guess is that he broke them because he paid for them and refused to reveal his sources in order to keep them and not incriminate himself if the information was illegally obtained. It seems to me that he was like TMZ before TMZ and I'm hesitant to give that type of "journalism" much credit, myself.

Nah, that wasn't it. He was protecting his sources in some cases or just being an ass in court. One of them was the Delorean entrapment case - someone sent him the famous video everyone eventually got to see and the government was not pleased. He was more like Julian Assange than TMZ. He did multiple stints in jail for not revealing his sources. He also was going after religious leaders that were trying to get him banned, that was a big part of it.

The movie is worth it for Ed Norton's performance alone.

 

[spintheblackcircle]

‘f*** This Court’: We Obtained Larry Flynt’s FBI File and It’s Pretty Wild

To the FBI, he was a person of interest. His 322-page FBI file, obtained by VICE News through a Freedom of Information Act request, contains a wild litany of events involving the Hustler honcho—from John DeLorean's cocaine bust and an alleged plot to hire a mercenary to kill Hugh Hefner and Penthouse publisher Bob Guccione, to an alleged effort by Flynt to blow himself up in the Supreme Court, as well as threats to Sandra Day O’Connor and President Ronald Reagan.