Hustler founder Larry Flynt dies aged 78

Larry Flynt, founder of Hustler magazine and self-proclaimed "smut peddler who cares", has died aged 78.

Flynt died in his sleep at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles with family by his side, BBC News reports, citing his manager.

He frequently courted controversy and was subject to lawsuits during a career spanning five decades.

Flynt was shot in 1978 while standing outside a courthouse in Georgia during a trial for obscenity.

The assassination attempt left him a paraplegic. He had his wheelchair gold-plated and lined with velvet.

The man alleged to be the perpetrator was never charged. However he was executed years later, in 2013, in connection with a series of unrelated murders.