Hustler (magazine)

**Hustler** is an American pornographic magazine that comes out every month, put together by Larry Flynt Publications (LFP). It hit newsstands in 1974, growing out of the *Hustler Newsletter*, which founder Larry Flynt originally used as cheap advertising for his strip clubs. The magazine started shaky but peaked at a circulation of about 3 million in the early 1980s; that number has since fallen to roughly 500,000. *Hustler* was one of the first big American magazines to show explicit photos of female genitalia and simulated sex acts, a far cry from the more restrained approach of titles like *Playboy*. By the 1990s, *Hustler*—along with some of its rivals—had started including images of penetration and oral sex.

Today, *Hustler* is still seen as more explicit and deliberately lowbrow than competitors such as *Playboy* and *Penthouse*. Its pages regularly feature hardcore content like sex toys, penetration, oral sex, and group sex. LFP licenses the *Hustler* brand to the Hustler Casino in Gardena, California, which Flynt owned personally through his holding company El Dorado Enterprises. Other licensed ventures include the Hustler Club chain of bars and clubs and the Hustler Hollywood store chain, which sells adult videos, clothing, magazines, and sex toys. The flagship Hustler Hollywood store, once on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood, was torn down in 2016. Both of these licensed businesses are run by LFP’s partner, Deja Vu.

**Founding** The business started in Cincinnati, where Larry Flynt and his brother Jimmy Flynt opened a club in 1969. Jimmy wrote a $5,000 check to pay for the Cincinnati club and was listed on the masthead of the magazine’s first issue in July 1974. Larry fired his brother in 2009, after which Jimmy started his own business, Jimmy Flynt’s Sexy Gifts Stand. One former *Hustler* staffer described the relationship: “Larry is the show, and Jimmy makes it go.”

**Publisher** *Hustler* is officially published by LFP, Inc., which also makes pornographic films. The initials “L.F.P.” originally stood for “Larry Flynt Publications.” A Canadian version of *Hustler* is put out by a Quebec-based firm; it’s not owned by Flynt but is licensed to use material from the American edition. The Canadian version mimics the look and tone of the U.S. magazine, adding Canadian content. In 1999, it stirred a minor controversy by asking readers to send in sexually explicit stories about Sheila Copps, a left-leaning Liberal cabinet member. There have also been Australian, British, and South African editions. During a bookstore signing in July 2011, Flynt said less than five percent of his income comes from the print magazine and guessed it would be gone in two to three years.

**Regular Features** One regular feature is “Asshole of the Month.” Each issue picks a public figure for harsh criticism, with an illustration showing that person’s head coming out of a cartoon donkey’s anus. After Flynt’s 1977 imprisonment and his claimed conversion to evangelical Christianity, he promised to reform the feature—but as of 2024, no change has appeared. The centerfold is called the “Hustler Honey.” Sometimes the models are porn actresses using pseudonyms; in the mid-1980s, actresses and strippers appeared under their real names.

From 1975 on, *Hustler* ran the comic strip “Honey Hooker.” Each installment showed Honey having graphic sex with any man or woman she met, whether she was in colonial America or a Super Bowl locker room. It was designed to compete with *Playboy*’s “Little Annie Fanny” and *Penthouse*’s “Wicked Wanda,” but unlike those, Honey was explicitly a prostitute, matching *Hustler*’s grittier, less romantic take on sex. The “Beaver Hunt” section features explicit nude photos of amateur models submitted by readers.

Another heavily criticized feature was the “Chester the Molester” comic strip. Each month, Chester—a cartoon middle-aged pedophile—joyfully raped or molested young girls. After growing criticism, the strip became “Chester and Hester,” with Hester as an unattractive middle-aged woman and Chester’s partner. Following Flynt’s alleged religious conversion, he introduced “Chester the Protector,” a reincarnation of Chester who protected young girls from rape and seduction. The regular feature “Ads We’d Like to See” re-creates everyday ads in sexualized or violent ways. For instance, a 1980 parody of Dewar’s Lite Label Whiskey featured Kenneth Bianchi, the Hillside Strangler, listing his greatest accomplishment as Cindy Lee Hudspeth—whom he raped and murdered in 1978—and quoting him saying, “You gotta treat ’em rough….” This section drew heavy criticism for admiring men who committed sexualized crimes against women.

Besides regular features, *Hustler* sometimes ran special issues. In 1978, the “All Meat” issue had a cover showing a naked woman being fed upside down into a meat grinder. In 1977, the front page read “First-Time Ever Scratch ’N’ Sniff Centerfold.”

**Controversy and Criticism** In 1984, conservative academic Judith Reisman got a grant from the Department of Justice to complete a study at American University concerning the cartoon.