Once again, pornography steps in to save the day!
Nearly thirty years ago, Hustler publisher, self-described “smut peddler”, and unlikely free speech hero Larry Flynt made free speech history when he won a court case in which televangelist Jerry Falwell sued him for libel and emotional distress. Hustler had published a cartoon that implied that Falwell’s first sexual experience was with an incestuous one with his mother. Flynt won in a lower court, but Falwell took it to the Supreme Court, where the justices decided that if a public figure could receive damages for distress, it would effectively destroy any form of parody, satire, or spoofing. The case, known as Hustler Magazine v. Falwell, is now a landmark and taught in American law schools today.
Here’s a dramatization of the key point in Hustler Magazine v. Falwell, featuring Justice Scalia being his usual clueless self:
Larry’s going to bat for free speech again (and hey, let’s admit it, a few easy bucks as well). He’s just announced that Hustler Video will create a porn parody of The Interview titled This Ain’t The Interview XXX.
Hustler Video isn’t new to the porn parody game, having created XXX versions of Glee, The Simpsons, Sailor Moon, Duck Dynasty, and the almost-redundant porn version of Game of Thrones [all those links are to “clean” trailers for the parodies. You might not want to view ’em at work.]
“I’ve spent a lifetime fighting for the First Amendment, and no foreign dictator is going to take away my right to free speech,” said Flynt. “If Kim Jong Un and his henchmen were upset before, wait till they see the movie we’re going to make.”
Given that the original film is in limbo and may be so for some time, this may be the first porn parody that gets released before the original.