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Controversial publisher and adult entertainment mogul Larry Flynt has reportedly died at the age of 78.
Flynt passed away in Los Angeles, Calif. Wednesday morning, according to TMZ. Family sources confirmed his passing and noted the cause was due to heart failure.
The founder of Hustler magazine in the 1970’s fought for the right to publish such risque material, citing the first amendment in cases that made it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Flynt’s battle was detailed in the Oscar-nominated 1996 film, ‘The People vs. Larry Flynt’, where he was portrayed by Woody Harrelson.
Flynt was later shot by a sniper when entering a courthouse in Georgia on March 6, 1978. It left him bound to a wheelchair and paralyzed him from the waist down. He also suffered a stroke from overdosing of pain medication while dealing with pain from the shooting.
A staunch supporter of the Democratic party, Flynt played in the political world as well.
He was indulged in trying to dig dirt on politicians for several decades. In since the 1970’s, Flynt offered up to $1 million to anyone with “documentary evidence of illicit sexual relations with a Congressman, Senator, or other prominent officeholder.”
He also offered rewards for Mitt Romney’s tax returns during the 2012 presidential election, and demanded a cash payment for anyone with damaging tapes of Donald Trump when he was the Republican nominee in 2016. He has made multiple payouts to informants in a broad campaign to expose hypocrisy among right-wing “family values” politicians.
Flynt once offered to pay $10 million to anyone who could provide him with information on President Donald Trump that would lead to his impeachment and removal from office. This ordeal was aired out in a full-page ad by the Washington Post on Oct, 14, 2017.
In 2019, Fortune Magazine reported Flynt’s net worth at $550 million as one of the most powerful in the adult entertainment industry.
