Hustler Magazine Founder Asks Congress For $5 Billion Package To Help Porn Industry

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - If General Motors and Chrysler deserve a bailout package from the federal government, so does the adult entertainment industry. That is the reasoning of Hustler magazine founder Larry Flynt when he asked the U.S. Congress for a $5 billion bailout package to help the porn industry.

Flynt requested for a bailout package from Congress, together with Joe Francis, creator of the Girls Gone Wild video series. Francis explained, quoted by the U.K. Telegraph, "Congress seems willing to help shore up our nation's most important businesses, (and) we feel we deserve the same consideration."

Francis added, "In difficult times, Americans turn to entertainment for relief. More and more, the kind of entertainment they turn to is adult entertainment."

DVD sales and rentals of porn movies have gone down 22 percent the past 12 months as a sign that recession has hit the adult entertainment industry. However, Francis and Flynt admitted online traffic continues to rise. Francis conceded the $13 billion industry is not at the brink of collapsing, but has been affected too by the economic crisis. "As long as the government is handing out money, we want to be there to take it," Francis said.

On Wednesday, Flynt filed a lawsuit against his two nephews, Jimmy Flynt II and Dustin Flynt, for coming up with their own porno movies using the Flynt name. In the suit he filed with a U.S. District Court, the Hustler founder said his nephews' movies were inferior and knock-off goods.

Flynt told the Los Angeles Times, "To come into the adult entertainment business and use my name not only confuses people who buy my products, but if they're not maintaining a certain quality, it could also hurt my name."

The two younger Flynts used to be employees of Larry Flynt but were fired in 2008. They used their separation pay of $100,000 to start a rival porn company.