Is A Porn Bailout Necessary In Hard Times?
The adult entertainment industry doesn’t make cars or loans, but porn mogul Larry Flynt thinks Congress should help it weather the economic crisis.
“The porn industry needs a bailout, people, with the economy as sad as it is, trying to make their mortage payments, they’re just bewildered at what confronts them, so they don’t even think about sex,” the founder of Hustler magazine says. “So I think it’s time for the government to step in and rejuvenate the libido and enjoy the one thing that’s left that’s still free.”
Sales of adult DVDs have been positively flaccid for the past two years — down about 22 percent and falling, according to industry figures. Blame the impact of the Internet, and now the recession. So earlier this week, Flynt and Girls Gone Wild creator Joe Francis sent a formal request to Congress for a $5 billion bailout.
Most people in the adult entertainment industry dismiss the request as a publicity stunt, but they do agree that the recession is hurting business.
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