SANTA MONICA, Calif.–Giant Mobile, a Santa Monica-based producer of wireless content for mobile phones, last month filed multiple claims against LFP, Inc., publisher of such adult magazines as Hustler, Barely Legal, Taboo and Asian Fever, for breach of contract and interference with contractual relations arising out of a licensing agreement entered into in June 2003.
According to lawsuit, LFP reneged on its two-year-old agreement with Giant in order to cut a better deal with another company. To make matters worse, Giant discovered that LFP and its new licensee were undermining Giant’s relationships with its distributors of adult mobile content even before LFP sought to terminate its agreement with Giant.
The Company believes that once Michael Klein (President, LFP Broadcasting, LLC) took over the reigns at LFP, “He went out of his way to disrupt Giant’s existing relationship with LFP, cut Giant out of the marketplace and deny it any credit for helping to establish the Hustler Mobile brand.”
Giant is seeking over $23,000,000 in damages based upon LFP’s failure to honor its licensing agreement with Giant. When asked whether Giant thought that Larry Flynt was personally involved in the decision to dishonor the contract, a spokesperson for the company stated, “We are not sure, we always thought Hustler owner Larry Flynt was an honorable guy. We trusted him. It is a shame Larry is letting Michael Klein ruin his reputation as a straight shooter. We hope that once he has all the information in front of him, Larry will do the right thing.”
The lawsuit was filed with a private arbitration organization called JAMS, which provides retired trial judges as arbitrators in business disputes.
