Thursday, Mar 4, 2010    Text size: 

CINCINNATI — A judge has denied Hustler’s Larry Flynt’s request to keep his statements about a legal dispute with his brother sealed for fear of embarrassment.

Hamilton County Judge Steven Martin didn’t buy the argument and ruled against Flynt Thursday, saying his fear of embarrassment isn’t a good enough reason to keep his statements under wraps.

In an emergency motion for protective order, Flynt asked the judge to keep his statements private because they could end up on the Interent where they would cause “annoyance” and “embarrassment.”

Flynt’s brother Jimmy, who sued after getting fired by Larry, said his attempt to keep his statements confidential was “hypocritical” coming from a “self-proclaimed 1st Amendment champion” who has published embarrassing articles of celebrities for years.

The judge concluded that Flynt had failed to prove his company or his reputation would be significantly harmed if the information became public.

Jimmy Flynt Sr. sued his brother claiming he’s a partner in LFP and that both he and his brother spent 40 years building up the Hustler empire from a chain of go-go clubs into a "national multimedia empire" that includes websites, gentlemens clubs, magazines, videos, retail stores, a casino and a clothing line.

But Larry Flynt told XBIZ in previous interviews that Jimmy Flynt Sr. only operated the Hustler Hollywood in Cincinnati “under a license, under his name” and was paid a salary of $250,000 a year.

Jimmy Flynt Sr.’s suit seeks to have a receiver review the assets of all of the Hustler companies to determine their value which Larry Flynt believes to be $400 million.

It also seeks to have the brothers' alleged partnership dissolved and for Jimmy Flynt Sr. to get at least half of those assets.