Adult industry legend Larry Flynt has died. The founder of Hustler Magazine and President of Larry Flynt Publications was 78 years old.
Flynt is survived by his wife, Elizabeth Barrios, his four children, and his brother Jimmy Flynt — who today confirmed Larry Flynt’s death in Los Angeles, California.
Sources have told reporters at TMZ that Flynt died from heart failure.
Flynt is best known for Hustler Magazine, but after nearly 50 years of adult industry experience he also was a key player in the adult novelty business with his signature Hustler Hollywood shops. Flynt’s empire has included countless other magazines, a casino, night clubs as well as three separate Hustler TV channels.
Flynt’s legacy as a tireless free speech crusader is well-earned. In the early years of Hustler Magazine Flynt was often targeted by politicians and law enforcement who charged him repeatedly with violating federal obscenity laws.
In March of 1978, while departing from a courthouse in Georgia, serial killer Joseph Paul Franklin shot Flynt; the injury damaged Flynt’s spinal cord and left him partially paralyzed from the waist down.
Flynt’s life and legal battles were brilliantly depicted in Milos Forman’s 1996 Oscar-nominated movie The People vs. Larry Flynt, which starred actor Woody Harrelson in the role of Larry Flynt. The film culminated in Flynt’s famous battle with Rev. Jerry Falwell that resulted in an important free speech victory at the United States Supreme Court.
Flynt and Hustler Magazine is also famous for publishing nude paparazzi pictures of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, the former First Lady and ex-wife to the late US President John Kennedy.
At the height of its popularity, Hustler Magazine sold over one-million copies per-month. The magazine was known for being more explicit and less apologetic than its main competitors Playboy and Penthouse.
