“Hustler” magazine founder Larry Flynt has passed away at 78. Family sources have confirmed to “TMZ” that Flynt died from heart failure yesterday morning in Los Angeles. Sure, as the force behind “Hustler,” which launched in 1974, Flynt’s been one of the biggest names in the adult entertainment industry – but also? He was a champion of the First Amendment.
Along with his fame and fortune, he’s also dealt with his fair share of legal and health issues. Some of which were chronicled in the award-winning – and Oscar-nominated 1996 film, “The People vs Larry Flynt” starring Woody Harrelson. His notoriety also led to him being shot in 1978 by serial killer Joseph Paul Franklin, which left Flynt paralyzed from the waist down.
As for his legal infamy, he once found himself at odds with televangelist Jerry Falwell over a parody cartoon. Falwell sued, Flynt fought back and took his case all the way to the Supreme Court. Ultimately, he won an 8-0 decision in 1988. Justices it ruled that the First and 14th amendments preclude a public figure from receiving damages for emotional distress if that distress were inflicted by a caricature, parody or satire of the public figure.
- Flynt was married five times, marrying his former nurse Elizabeth Berrios in 1998. He’s survived by Berrios, five daughters, a son, and several grandchildren and great-grandkids.
Source: TMZ
