In 1952, 10-year-old Larry Flynt was selling moonshine in Kentucky. Fast forward twenty years, Flynt and his younger brother, Jimmy, run the Hustler Go-Go club in Cincinnati, Ohio. Flynt decides to publish a newsletter for the club, the first Hustler magazine, with nude pictures of women working at the club because profits are down. The newsletter quickly becomes a full-fledged magazine, but sales are weak. Hustler then publishes nude photos of former first lady Jackie Kennedy Onassis, sales skyrocket.
Subsequently, Flynt becomes infatuated with Althea, a stripper who works at one of his clubs. Along with Althea and Jimmy's help, Flynt makes a fortune from sales of Hustler. Amidst his success comes enemies. Flynt finds himself a condemned figure of anti-pornography activists. He disputes with the activists, saying that "murder is illegal,
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He returns to an active role with the publication, which, in his absence, had been run by Althea and Jimmy. Flynt is soon in court again for leaking videos relating to the John DeLorean entrapment case, and during his courtroom antics, Flynt fires Isaacman, then throws an orange at the judge. He later wears an American flag as an adult diaper along with an army helmet and wears T-shirts with provocative messages. After spitting water at the judge, the judge sends Flynt to a psychiatric hospital, where he sinks into depression again. Flynt publishes a satirical parody ad in which Jerry Falwell tells of a sexual encounter with his mother. Falwell sues for libel and emotional distress. Flynt countersues for copyright infringement because Falwell copied his advertisement. The case went to trial in December 1984, but the decision is mixed, as Flynt is found guilty of inflicting emotional distress but not libel. This verdict is odd because how can one cause emotional distress if there was no