Larry Flynt's widow, unshaken by OnlyFans boom, says Hustler is still evolving after its provocative past
The rise of OnlyFans doesn't faze Larry Flynt's widow.
As chairwoman of Hustler magazine, Liz Flynt is keeping the legacy of her late husband alive by overseeing his adult entertainment empire. Her new book, "HUSTLER®50: 50 Years of Freedom," aims to capture the salacious brand's journey "through five decades of political and social upheaval." Flynt died in 2021 at age 78.
Liz told Fox News Digital she wasn't opposed to the possibility of launching a similar subscription-based service. She previously told the Los Angeles Times that Hustler doesn't offer entertainment created by users, because verifying the age of performers is difficult. She also says that Hustler insists on providing "high-quality content."
"It would be nice to come up with something like [OnlyFans]," said Liz. "But right now, I don't have anything in the pipeline. But we're always brainstorming at our monthly meetings and our weekly management meetings. We're always brainstorming on what's new, young and fresh and what else we can do to grow as a company."
Many sex workers joined OnlyFans during the pandemic when in-person venues shut down or became more dangerous because of COVID-19. The site has been tremendously lucrative for some people, allowing them to earn thousands per month. In 2021, OnlyFans said it had 130 million users and two million creators who have collectively earned $5 billion.
Liz is aware of the competition.
"We are still a monthly publication, but we're always finding new ideas to keep the company relevant, like getting into different areas of technology," Liz explained. "In the early '90s, my husband went into video, he went into broadcast, he went into retail stories, he went into gaming. And so, he was able to diversify the company early on. We [now] have 60 Hustler Hollywood retail stores."
"Under my leadership, I was able to open 20 more and acquire 40 retail stores from Playboy Enterprises," she shared.
"I was able to launch Hustler Casino Live, which is livestream online poker. . . . The newest launch that I was able to [do] was [partner with] DoorDash with all of our Hustler Hollywood stores. We're the first to do that. Of course, Hustler has been known to be the first to do many different things. That's what makes us so different and keeps us relevant."
Flynt, a former strip club owner, built Hustler magazine into an adult entertainment juggernaut that included casinos, films, websites and other businesses as he relentlessly championed First Amendment rights.
Flynt's far-flung company produced not only Hustler but other niche publications. He also owned a video production company, scores of websites, two Los Angeles-area casinos and dozens of Hustler boutiques selling adult-oriented products. He also licensed the Hustler name to independently owned strip clubs.
At the time of his death, Flynt claimed to have video-on-demand operations in more than 55 countries and more than 30 Hustler Hollywood retail stores throughout the United States.
Flynt often disgusted the masses for offering one of the most graphic, and at times controversial, publications on newsstands. Unlike Playboy or Penthouse, it published more overtly sexual imagery. Flynt didn't hesitate to push boundaries with raw imagery and biting cartoons. He once declared that "pornography is really the purest form of art."
Liz said she believes in her late husband's vision.
"Our bodies are the purest form of art," she said. "Women have been photographed over the decades. I see nothing wrong with it. I feel that publishers before [my husband], like Hugh Hefner and Bob Guccione, did pave the way for Larry. And I think there's nothing wrong with photographing beautiful women – all types of women."
WATCH: BACHELOR STAR ON WHY SHE'LL STRIP DOWN FOR PLAYBOY OVER ONLYFANS
"If you look at some of these women in the Victorian age and some of those beautiful portraits, there's nudity there," she argued. "And there's nothing wrong with it."
Flynt offered large sums of money to famous women to pose naked. Although they turned him down, he did manage to publish a photographer's nude sunbathing photos of former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. He was intensely disliked by both religious and feminist groups, who said he demeaned women and put them at risk with pictures of bondage and other controversial acts.
Flynt maintained throughout his life that he was not just a pornographer but also a fierce defender of free-speech rights.
But there was a time when even Flynt wondered if he went too far. The magazine famously shocked readers in June 1978 when it published a cover depicting a woman being fed into a meat grinder.
"Hustler has always stayed true to its original spirit, meaning we were provocative, explicit and unafraid to challenge authority and offend people," said Liz. "But one particular cover that I'm sure people remember was the meat grinder and having a woman depicted as a piece of meat. But Larry had told me when the cover came out, he was in jail. Therefore, he took the hit. He was the publisher, so he owned it."
"He said, 'I'll take the hit,'" Liz shared. "What was he going to do, blame it on somebody else? No, Larry was the owner, the publisher, and you have to stick with what you publish. Unfortunately, he received countless words of criticism. Gloria Steinem attacked him and took a full page out in The New York Times. But he defended the image as satire. . . . And he was always pushing the envelope."
Liz said she first met Flynt in 1991 when she went to work for him as a nurse. He had been paralyzed after he was nearly killed in a 1986 assassination attempt. His nephew, Jimmy Flynt Jr., said at the time of his death that his famous uncle suffered decades of health issues.
"I remember he was a very quiet guy when I first met him," said Liz. "I didn't see any Hustler magazines in his home. I found him to be very knowledgeable with impeccable vocabulary. It wasn't until two years later that he asked me out. I declined. Then he asked me out again. I said, 'Well, if you'd like to go out with me, come to my home for dinner and meet my family.' And he did."
The couple tied the knot in 1998. And being married to one of the world's most famous pornographers was surprisingly ordinary.
"Larry was a fun-loving husband," said Liz. "He was very kind and generous. He loved to travel. I always felt that I was well cared for and loved by him. He was just a very loving husband. And he loved animals, too. We always had dogs. We had two German shepherds in the beginning, and then we always had schnauzers, from giant schnauzers to miniatures."
As a doting husband, Flynt wasn't shy about giving marital advice. And that's exactly what he did with Woody Harrelson's wife Laura. The actor portrayed Flynt in the 1996 film "The People vs. Larry Flynt."
"At one point, Laura and I were having tremendous trouble in our relationship, and, unbeknownst to me, Larry took her to lunch and acted as a marriage counselor," Harrelson, 63, wrote in the book's foreword. "And whatever he said that day really helped. To this day, Laura will cry when she recalls that conversation and Larry's unsolicited, unyielding support. He was always the truest of friends."
Today, Liz is determined to make sure that her husband's advocacy for freedom of speech isn't forgotten.
"My husband didn't live long enough to write this book," she reflected. "I felt it was so important to capture the five decades of Hustler magazine. . . . As the chairwoman and beneficiary of the company, I feel that I'm in a different pair of shoes. I promised him that I would continue to run the company and make sure it continues to grow. I am doing that right now."
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