Larry Flynt, the controversial adult entertainment mogul and publisher of Hustler magazine, has died at 78 years old.
Flynt family sources confirmed that the publishing mogul passed away on Wednesday in Los Angeles, at his Hollywood Hills home, according to CNN.
Larry Flynt cause of death
Flynt died from heart failure, TMZ reported.
He suffered from multiple health issues after surviving an attempt on his life in 1978.
Serial killer Joseph Paul Franklin shot Flynt as he left a courthouse in Georgia. The shooting left him paralyzed from the waist down.
Flynt was confined to the wheelchair for the rest of his life and battled multiple health issues and chronic pain as a result.
Reactions to Larry Flynt’s death on social media
Tributes have been pouring in on social media since news of Flynt’s death broke.
People who paid tribute include the producer Larry Karaszewski, journalist and LGBTQ activist Dan Savage, and Washington Post senior editor Hank Stuever.
Flynt’s death comes after Leon Spinks, the former heavyweight boxing champion who beat Muhammad Ali, died from cancer at 67.
Saved by the Bell actor Dustin Diamond also died from cancer at 44.
Larry Flynt bio
Flynt was born in Kentucky in 1942. He was the oldest of three siblings. His father was a poor sharecropper.
He served in the army and later in the navy.
He started his career in the adult entertainment industry managing a chain of go-go bars in Ohio.
Larry grew his business and became one of the biggest players in the adult entertainment industry.
He launched his controversial adult entertainment magazine, Hustler, in 1974.
He started Hustler TV and published other adult magazines, such as Barely Legal. He was also known for producing pornographic videos. In 2000, he opened Hustler Casino near Los Angeles.
Flynt gained notoriety and attracted a lot of controversy and legal challenges.
He was known as a First Amendment crusader.
The televangelist Jerry Falwell sued him over a parody. But in 1988, the Supreme Court eventually awarded the case in his favor, based on the ruling that parody was protected speech.
The 1996 Oscar-nominated film, The People vs. Larry Flynt, starring Woody Harrelson, Courtney Love and Edward Norton, chronicled his life, career, and legal challenges.
Flynt also got involved in politics. He ran for president in 1984 on the platform of the Republican Party and for California Governor in 2003.
Flynt married five times. His wife Althea died of AIDS in 1987. He tied the knot with Elizabeth Berrios in 1998.
He had five children, but lost one of them, Lisa, in 2014.
Lisa, who was then 47, died in a car crash.
Larry Flynt is survived by his wife Elizabeth, four children, several grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.