LOS ANGELES—Jimmy Ray Flynt, the younger brother of Hustler founder Larry Flynt, has revived a longstanding family feud by filing suit against the late porn mogul's widow, Elizabeth Flynt, seeking half of the trust that was left to her when the elder Flynt died one year ago.
The Louisville Courier Journal reports that Jimmy Flynt filed the new suit February 8 in a California U.S. District Court, claiming his brother had repeatedly promised he would be made a beneficiary of his trust, which includes the Hustler Enterprise and other assets. Jimmy Flynt first attempted to lay claim to 50 percent of Larry's holdings in a lawsuit dating back to 2009, which concluded in 2011 with the decision by U.S. District Court Judge William Bertelsman that Larry owned 100 percent of the Enterprise and no parternship ever existed between the brothers. Elizabeth Flynt now heads the Flynt Management Group, which encompases strip clubs, video and broadcasting distribution, casinos and more, and has an estimated value of $500 million.
Jimmy's lawsuit argues that he played a central role in founding and growing the Hustler Enterprise since its beginning, including by helping procure a nude photo of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in 1975 that launched Hustler magazine to nationally recognized brand status. The suit notes that a court previously ruled the issue of whether Jimmy would be a beneficiary of the trust could not be pursed until after Larry's death, because he could make changes until then.
"Without Jimmy, there would have been no Hustler Clubs in the early 1970s. Without Jimmy, neither the Hustler newsletter nor Hustler magazine would have existed," the suit reads. "Without Jimmy, there would have been no Jackie O. photos and without Jimmy, Hustler magazine would not have been successful."
Elsewhere, it asserts: "Larry chose to leave the entire Hustler Enterprise to his fifth wife while wrongfully and inequitably excluding his brother."
According to the Courier Journal story, Jimmy Flynt said last year that he and his brother had "buried the hatchet" and commented this week that he hoped the suit "could be resolved quickly."
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Photo of Jimmy Flynt at the 2005 AVN Awards (inset) by Jimmy Flynt / Wikimedia Commons
