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Hustler Fined $375,000 For Posthumously Running Nude Pics of Wrestler's Wife
Photo by Thomas Hawk via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr
Oh, Larry Flynt. Always with the hijinks. Today's Flynt-news, courtesy of FOX, brings us the story of Nancy Benoit, whose family was awarded $375,000 today after Hustler ran nude photos of her following her death.
Benoit was killed by her husband, wrestler Chris Benoit in 2007 in a murder-suicide. Chris strangled Nancy and their son, Daniel, and then hung himself. Always the proprietor of good taste, Hustler ran naked pictures of Nancy that had been taken 20 years earlier in a story about her life and death. Benoit's family sued, claiming that Nancy had wanted the pictures destroyed after they were taken.
Initially, Benoit's family lost their suit, after Hustler's attorneys successfully argued for the magazine's First Amendment rights (which, one assumes, they can now do in their sleep). But the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the decision, according to FOX, saying that "a notorious death shouldn't give publishers a blank check to publish any images they wish — particularly those not linked to a newsworthy event."
Today, a federal judge ordered the company to pay $375,000 in damages to the Benoit family.
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