CBS This Morning on Thursday cheered pornographer Larry Flynt as some kind of progressive icon, fighting for gay marriage and opposing the death penalty. Co-host Tony Dokoupil offered a very much unasked admission that, as a ten-year-old boy, the very explicit Hustler magazine “changed my life forever!”
CBS was alone among the morning shows on Thursday in deeming Flynt’s life worthy of discussion. Co-host Anthony Mason touted the complexity of the porn icon: “it's interesting, he opposed the death penalty, he favored same-sex marriage. He spoke out against the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Politically he was very progressive. He was not what you would think that Larry Flynt was going to be.”
Vlad Duthiers eagerly agreed, “Exactly right.” Dokoupil then offered this awkward admission about Hustler and his childhood.
TONY DOKOUPIL: And some reader of Hustler left a copy in a construction site when I was ten near my friend’s house.
DUTHIERS: What did you do with it?
DOKOUPIL: It changed my life forever.
GAYLE KING: Here you are on CBS This Morning.
Co-host Anthony Mason dryly offered, “I don’t think we should put that in the [CBS This Morning] promo.” In comparison, ABC’s Good Morning America and NBC’s Today ignored the death of the porn magnate. On Wednesday night, the NBC Nightly News relegated Flynt to a 15 second news brief. Here’s anchor Lester Holt:
A man who has been a controversial figure in America for decades have died. Larry Flynt, the founder of adult magazine Hustler, has passed away. Flynt built a pornography empire and became an unlikely First Amendment activist. He was 78.
Thankfully, Holt avoided Dokoupil’s example. He did not talk about personal experience reading Hustler.
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Transcripts can be found below. Click “expand” to read more.
CBS This Morning
2/11/2021
7:48 AM ET
VLAD DUTHIERS: Larry Flynt, founder of Hustler and outspoken supporter of the First Amendment, died yesterday. The controversial publisher launched a magazine in 1974 and used it to build an adult entertainment empire. He was left paralyzed when a gunman tried to murder him in 1978. The shooter admitted he did it because he opposed Hustler's photography of a mixed race couple. Flynt fought several high-profile legal battles and became a target for feminists and the religious right. He spoke to Erin Moriarty in 2014 for "CBS Sunday Morning.
ERIN MORIARTY: Do you think what's the social benefit of offensive pictures or offensive speech?
LARRY FLYNT: You pay a price for everything. And the price you pay to live in a free society is toleration. You have to tolerate things that you don't necessarily like so you can be free.
DUTHIERS: Flynt died of heart failure in Los Angeles. He was 78 years old. Love him or hate him, he was a controversial figure. But he really did change the way people thought about the First Amendment.
ANTHONY MASON: That's absolutely true. He was also -- it's interesting, he opposed the death penalty, he favored same-sex marriage. He spoke out against the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Politically he was very Progressive. He was not what you would think that Larry Flynt was going to be.
DUTHIERS: Exactly right. Yeah.
TONY DOKOUPIL: And some reader of Hustler left a copy in a construction site when I was ten near my friend’s house.
DUTHIERS: What did you do with it?
DOKOUPIL: It changed my life forever.
GAYLE KING: Here you are on CBS This Morning.
DOKOUPIL: How about that?
DUTHIERS: That might be a little bit over the moderate level --
MASON: I don’t think we should put that in the promo.
DUTHIERS: That’s really great.
NBC Nightly News
2/10/2021
7:23:48 to 7:24:03
LESTER HOLT: A man who has been a controversial figure in America for decades have died. Larry Flynt, the founder of adult magazine Hustler, has passed away. Flynt built a pornography empire and became an unlikely First Amendment activist. He was 78.
