From LOCKERDOME

Porn king Larry Flynt still fighting for free speech, on Hustler’s 40th birthday

Porn veteran Larry Flynt is celebrating the 40th birthday of his X-rated magazine Hustler — and from his gold-plated wheelchair he is as combative as ever in fighting for free speech.

Dressed in a beige suit with gold and diamond rings, Flynt surveys photos ranged on his enormous, Napoleon-style desk including his wife and himself with Bill Clinton, as well as caricatures and a collection of his magazines.

The front cover of the anniversary edition has a blonde on all fours dressed only in garters and a string of pearls. Inside there is no such modesty, with hardcore porn in full-color close-up.

“They did a poll recently — 80 percent of the women who enjoy adult film care about the dialogue and the quality of production. Men they don’t care, they take it raw,” he smiled.

The 71-year-old has been in his gold-plated wheelchair since an attack which left him paralyzed below the waist in 1978.

While celebrating his magazine’s four decades in print, he admits it is struggling, with circulation down from a peak of around three million during its heyday to “a couple of hundred thousand today”, according to a Hustler spokesman.

“Publishing is not good .. for anybody in America because Internet is replacing print. We’ll continue the magazine as long as it is profitable. Then we’ll go online,” Flynt said.

Hustler’s website doesn’t make much money either, competing with a tsunami of hardcore porn online which is often free, and made by amateurs.

– ‘Having our best year’ –

His business’ future lies above all in TV porn channels and on-demand videos, but also in Hustler-themed sex accessory and clothing stores and casinos, which he is opening everywhere.

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