Flynt won a surprising victory by the United States Supreme Court in 1988 over Rev. Jerry Falwell, who sued him for defamation after a 1983 Hustler alcohol ad suggested that Falwell had lost his virginity to his mother in an outdoor bathroom. “At the heart of the First Amendment is recognition of the fundamental importance of the free flow of ideas and opinions on matters of public interest and interest. Freedom of speech is not just an aspect of individual freedom – and therefore a good thing in itself – but it is also essential for the common search for the truth and vitality of society as a whole, “wrote the Court in its decision 8-0.
Flynt’s company produced not only Hustler, but other niche publications as well. He owned a video production company, several websites, a casino in the Los Angeles area and 10 Hustler boutiques. He also licensed the name Hustler to independently owned strip clubs.
Its advertising and financial successes were compensated in equal measure by controversies and tragedies.
Shot by a sniper in 1978, Flynt was paralyzed from the waist down and used a wheelchair for the rest of his life. He fought battles with drug and alcohol addiction, and his fourth wife died of a heroin overdose.
Her daughter, Lisa Flynt-Fugate, died in a car accident in 2014 in Ohio at the age of 47.
With an estimated fortune of more than $ 100 million, Flynt spent his last years in the political arena. When Governor Gray Davis was called back by California voters in 2003, Flynt was among 135 candidates who ran to replace him. He called himself “a peddler who cares” and won over 15,000 votes.
A self-styled progressive, Flynt was not a fan of former President Donald Trump. Prior to the 2016 election, he offered up to $ 1 million for Trump’s video or audio recordings involved in illegal or “sexually degrading or derogatory” activities.
In 2017, Flynt offered a $ 10 million reward for evidence that would lead to Trump’s impeachment, and in 2019, Larry Flynt Publications sent a Christmas card to some Republican congressmen that showed Trump dead in a pool of blood, with the murderer saying, “I just shot Donald Trump on Fifth Avenue and nobody murdered me” – a reference to Trump’s pride that he could commit such a murder and not lose votes.
Flynt’s life was portrayed in the acclaimed 1996 film “The People vs. Larry Flynt ”, who brought Oscar nominations for director Milos Forman and Woody Harrelson, who played Flynt.