Larry Flynt, 1942-2021: The man who sold sex and received a bullet | interview | Woody Harrelson | The People vs. Larry Flynt | APTZ | LIGHTS

But many years ago, when these anatomical parts were not protagonists, there was a stomach. And a very hungry stomach. It was a humble country house in a Kentucky village – no chicken, no secret recipe or extra crispy – the place where, in 1942, Larry Claxton Flynt, Jr. was born. By the time he turned 22, he had already been in the Army and Navy. He then opened a strip club that became a chain and, in 1974, founded a magazine that, alongside Playboy and Penthouse, would become a benchmark for eroticism and sex on paper. This same kid who earned his first pennies by selling artisanal liquor, is the man who, until less than 10 years ago, made $ 150 million a year and the magazine will continue to stand beyond his own life. The same thing he was able to challenge – in court and publicly – an American society that was about to crucify him. They failed, but in return he suffered an attack that left him prostrate in a wheelchair forever. All to include an interracial sex scene in her magazine. But he kept going, thinking that from the waist up his ideas flew, and from the waist down life would roll. After all, Flint was a Rolling Stone, very much his own way: (I can’t get any) Satisfaction he could star in the soundtrack of his life, and he always had, in one way or another, “Sympathy for the devil”. This, of course, even though for some years he “accepted Christ” through his friend Ruth, the evangelical sister of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter.

While Hustler started with his right foot, it was with the publication of some nude photos of Jacqueline Onassis (formerly Kennedy) on a Greek island – not posed, but taken by a paparazzi – that the magazine became a boom. and went on to sell about 3 million copies a month. Then came several disputes with the more conservative sides of American society in the 1970s, and dozens of accusations and lawsuits for obscenity against which he hoisted the First Amendment of his constitution as a defense, as the his, he asserted, was freedom of speech, at least naked style. The same freedom of speech with which he published a notice in which, supposedly, the preacher Jerry Falwell, much loved and famous at the time, recounted that his first sexual intercourse was with his mother in a latrine and that he preached to his followers completely drunk. Hail Mary! The trial that confronted them is one of the main axes of the film of Milos Forman mentioned initially.

Larry Flynt, a character who delighted in being unpleasant, mischievous, insolent with established law and order, suddenly became the leader of the freedom of expression of a country ruled by Reagan’s conservatism. A strange species of superhero, 1 Pornoman in Erotic City. A few years ago, when his magazine had been published uninterruptedly for more than four decades, the author of this text got an interview with Flynt, which he took the opportunity to review his life.

Because we are dust, and from dust we come: The formation of an empire

It’s been over 40 years since you founded Hustler. How do you perceive the change in attitude in the world towards sexuality since then?

We have moved from a world where someone like me could be sued for having a photo in the middle of a sexual act, to a world where anything and everything can be viewed with the click of a mouse. It is a more open and solid world.

What has changed in your own mind since then?

Nothing has changed in my mind. I am still the same sex trafficker as before. I just became more famous than I was when I started.

Why was Hustler a phenomenon?

Hustler was offensive, even to the point of being iconoclastic. It was our purpose to be offensive. We were always pushing the boundaries and that only pushed the brand through the years. Whether political, religious or satirical, Hustler has always had something to say and has said it with great pride and offense. It is about what we build our reputation and what our loyal readership likes.

What is your best memory of the magazine’s early years?

The early days of the club (his striptease salon) are my fondest memories, alongside Hustler’s early years and his creation.

There have been thousands of nude magazines throughout history. What’s the secret to Hustler remaining so popular to this day?

Our shamelessness and willingness to post things that no one else would dare. Be it the outrageous photos of a celebrity, bathroom humor (comic strips about bodily functions), and our successful and ruthless political satire, Hustler was always relevant and always offensive.

Sex and power

How do you feel today about the first amendment to the US Constitution? Do you still defend her to the death?

The first amendment gives me the right to be offensive. If you’re not going to offend someone, you don’t need the first amendment. I don’t have time to fix the impulses of people who can’t control themselves. I’m in the casino business and all the time we have people saying we need to help with the problem of bettors. I say, “Why? I don’t have time to fix people’s problems.” I think it’s very clear that I will defend her to the death, seeing that I almost die once doing the same.

What relationship do you think sex has in terms of power today? I remember that in 2011 you published the book One Nation Under Sex about the sexual adventures of several presidents of the United States …

Well, sex and power have always been intertwined, sometimes for the better, but most for the worse. I think sex today serves to tarnish a politician and usually diverts the focus from an important issue. Is it really so terrible for a politician to be an unfaithful husband while doing his job? If you have to attack a person for their indiscretions, make sure your story is pure and immaculate.

What led you to study this subject with such passion?

For nearly three decades I have been in the business of drawing the attention of political figures to their hypocritical lies. If these guys continue to do so these days, surely those who created the United States had similar skeletons in their closets. Don’t get me wrong. I am the first person to defend an unfaithful president, but I think discretion should play an important role. After all, I am responsible for the resignation of ‘Bobo’ Livingstone. It’s amazing what a reward of a million can do. (Note: In 1998, Flynt offered up to $ 1 million to any source that provided verifiable information about embarrassing sex stories involving congressmen or senior government officials. Republican Livingstone resigned from the House of Representatives because he knew they had discovered him).

Truth or risk

How true is the Larry Flynt that Woody Harrelson did in the Milos Forman movie? How did they work together to create the character?

Woody was great. He interprets me better than I do. We spent a lot of time together, getting ready to shoot the movie.

What qualities were formed in you growing up in Kentucky, one of the poorest places in the United States at the time?

From the beginning, especially growing up in poverty, I knew I wanted to be rich. I thought having money was like being happy. As I got older, I discovered that this is not the case. Yes, money helps, but it is much more than that.

What famous woman would you like to have in the pages of your magazine?

I would love to see Jennifer Aniston in Hustler. It is so beautiful and so accessible. We’ve made so many offers to famous women to appear in our magazine that I can’t keep track. We offered (through their agents) a couple a few million to put. They never accepted.

Is it true that you were a friend of preacher Jerry Falwell after the trial that confronted them and even before his death?

Yes, it is true. When Falwell and I appeared on the Larry King Live show after the film was released, he greeted me with a hug. It was one of the weirdest moments of my life. It was the first time we were in a room together since the trial. From that moment on, our relationship changed and we took a tour of the country debating the First Amendment. He came to visit me when I was in California. We discussed politics and philosophy and exchanged Christmas cards. The truth is that the Reverend and I have a lot in common. We are both from the south, with a very poor background. The more I knew Falwell, the more I realized that his public figure was a maximized caricature of himself. We both knew he was selling something and we found a way to communicate. In the end, I’m sure I never changed his ideas and he never changed mine; but one thing I can say is that we were friends.

You once said that Kennedy inspired you a lot. In what sense did JFK inspire you and what other politician has done it?

My examples to follow when I was growing up were politicians and world leaders rather than actors. When President Kennedy spoke, my skin was bristling. The man had a way of expressing himself that few could match. I thought he was an amazing and very deep man. I see a lot of what made President Kennedy special to President Barack Obama.

What is your current relationship with religion and God?

I once had a very deep religious experience. Most people, when they have an experience of being reborn, find no one to talk to. They don’t go to the doctor because they don’t want to be perceived as mentally ill. All they can do is talk to a member of their family and they are directed to the church. In this way, they become involved with religion. I sought out psychiatrists immediately. My psychiatrist simply told me that they knew nothing about the brain and neither did the neurosurgeons. He talked to me about correlations between certain locations with large iodine deposits and depressive manic disorder. This is thought to be due to an iodine deficiency in the diet. It’s all about salt. It’s not how I think now. I have been on medication since then and have never had those thoughts again. I think religion has caused more harm than other ideas since the beginning of time. Every war has been fought for religion. When so many people have died for her, something is wrong.

If you had a second chance at life, would you do everything the same way?

No. I would wear a bulletproof vest to go in my opinion to Lawrenceville, Georgia.

How do you think you will be remembered after your death?

Well, we need to see what happens to the rest of my life! I don’t plan to retire soon. There are still a lot of people to fuck with (laughs). After I die, I don’t want much to be said about me. Just bury me and write my name on the headstone. If I have any legacy to leave, I want it to be that I fought for the parameters of free speech.

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