November 12, 2003

Update on Flynt's purchase of alleged nude Lynch photos

Apparently, there's some confusion about Larry Flynt's comments regarding his purchase of the alleged nude photos of Jessica Lynch. According to the Fox News story published yesterday, Flynt had issued a statement that he had purchased the pictures "in order to keep them out of circulation, not to publish them." But another story in the New York Daily News, also published yesterday, contradicts that statement:

Flynt said "he bought the photos last month from the men who purportedly participated in the amateur shoot with the undressed Army supply clerk. The soldiers “wanted to let it be known that she’s not all apple pie,” Flynt said.

“My first intention was to publish them, but I don’t think it was the best, positive move I could make,” Flynt said in a telephone interview. “She’s very much a pawn for the government. They force-fed us a Joan of Arc.”

When I had read the first story, saying that he had bought the pictures to keep them from being published, I thought his behaviour was laudable. Now that his motives are less clear, I'm not so sure. I'm glad that Flynt decided not to publish them - I think the media, as a whole, has already done enough to Lynch - but I don't have quite as much admiration as I did.

Posted by thorswitch at November 12, 2003 04:03 AM | TrackBack


Comments

Billmon, over at Whiskey Bar, did a pretty good piece on this. It's hard to piece together Flynt's motivations, but based on past experience I'd say that most likely scenario is that he originally planned to publish the photos until it became clear that Lynch wasn't the docile talking GI Barbie that the wingnuts thought she would be. Notice that once Lynch started criticizing the DoD and bAdministration for using her as a poster girl for the Iraq war, then the wingnuts started turning on her. At that point, I think Flynt probably decided to do the right thing.

Posted by: Len Cleavelin at November 12, 2003 10:04 AM

Whether or not you like him and his magazine, you have to admit Flynt does a great service to our country by fighting tooth and nail for our first amendment. By not publishing the photos, he has shown that he does have ideals above and beyond profit, which is more than most Republicans can say.

Posted by: gttim at November 13, 2003 09:48 AM