One of the most prolific landmark cases in privacy law regarding public and private figures

Full Answer Section

            Hustler's parody directly targeted Jerry Falwell, a prominent conservative televangelist and political figure. The ad featured Falwell's photograph and was titled "Jerry Falwell talks about his first time." The mock interview portrayed a highly offensive and fabricated scenario where "Falwell" recounts his "first time" as a drunken, incestuous encounter with his mother in an outhouse. Crucially, the ad included a disclaimer in small print at the bottom of the page that read: "AD PARODY—NOT TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY." The magazine's table of contents also listed the ad as "Fiction; Ad and Personality Parody." The content of the parody included explicit and vulgar dialogue, such as:

• "FALWELL: Well, we were drunk off our God-fearing asses on Campari, ginger ale and soda—that's called a Fire and Brimstone—at the time. And Mom looked better than a Baptist whore with a $100 donation."
• "INTERVIEWER: Campari in the crapper with Mom... how interesting. Well, how was it?"
• "FALWELL: The Campari was great, but Mom passed out before I could come."
• "INTERVIEWER: Did you ever try it again?"
• "FALWELL: Sure lots of times. But not in the outhouse. Between Mom and the shit, the flies were too much to bear."
• "INTERVIEWER: We meant the Campari."
• "FALWELL: Oh, yeah. I always get sloshed before I go out to the pulpit. You don't think I could lay down all that bullshit sober, do you?"

The parody was clearly designed to be outrageous, offensive, and personally humiliating to Falwell, attacking his public image as a moral and religious leader

Sample Answer

         

The case of Hustler Magazine, Inc. v. Falwell, 485 U.S. 46 (1988), is indeed a landmark in First Amendment jurisprudence, particularly regarding the rights of public figures and the tort of intentional infliction of emotional distress. It's quite ironic, as you point out, that a magazine known for its explicit content became central to defining the boundaries of free speech, even when that speech is offensive.

Let's break down the advertisement and the case:  

The Advertisement

  The controversial advertisement ran in the November 1983 issue of Hustler Magazine. It was a "parody" of a popular advertising campaign for Campari Liqueur. The original Campari ads featured celebrities discussing their "first time" drinking Campari, often with a deliberate double entendre implying their "first time" having sex.