Porn kings Larry Flint and Joe Francis go begging for a bailout

Original Story

BY CATEY HILL
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Wednesday, January 7th 2009, 11:51 AM

Is the porn industry up next for a bailout? If porn titans Joe Francis and Larry Flynt have anything to do with it, it will.

Yes, ladies and gentleman, the titans of pornography are begging for a bailout.

Joe Francis, creator of the "Girl's Gone Wild" video series, and Larry Flynt, founder of Hustler, will ask Congress for a $5 billion bailout, according to TMZ.

Why does the porn industry need a bailout? Because apparently even porn is getting smacked by the recession.

XXX DVD sales have taken a hit - about a 22% hit, according the TMZ.

"With all this economic misery and people losing all that money, sex is the farthest thing from their mind," Flynt is quoted as saying on TMZ. "It's time for Congress to rejuvenate the sexual appetite of America."

Francis thinks that the porn industry deserves a bailout just like the auto and financial industries got, and he said he'll go to DC to get it, according to TMZ.

"Congress seems willing to help shore up our nation's most important businesses; we feel we deserve the same consideration," Francis is quoted as saying on TMZ.

Is the porn industry really experiencing a severe downturn? It depends on who you ask.

Francis Koenig's fund AdultVest, which invests in porn-related assets, was up 50% in 2008, according to Tom Johansmeyer's article in next month's Atlantic (as reported by The Huffington Post). But video sales are down.

"The industry's not going anywhere," Koenig says. "You've got 6 billion people on the planet," he laughs, "and they're all horny."

The porn industry generated about $12 billion in 2007, according to the Atlantic article.