CONCORD, N.H. — A jury said Thursday that Hustler magazine and its publisher, Larry Flynt, libeled an executive at rival Penthouse magazine and awarded her $2 million in damages.
Kathy Keeton, a Penthouse vice chairman and president of Omni magazine, had sued Hustler and Flynt, claiming she was libeled by material published in the sexually explicit magazine since 1975. She had offered to settle the case in May for $1.6 million, but lawyers for Hustler and Flynt declined.
Keeton alleged that Flynt acted maliciously in publishing, among other things, a cartoon that falsely suggested she had contracted venereal disease from Penthouse publisher Robert Guccione, with whom she lives, and a nude pictorial spread of a model who was identified as Keeton.
"What I've established is that Mr. Flynt cannot do whatever he wants to everybody without consequences," Keeton said. "I hope it will prevent him in the future from doing the same thing to other people."
