Hustler publisher Larry Flynt has issued a statement blasting Charleston City Paper and the daily Post and Courier for rejecting an ad
which endorses the congressional campaign of South Carolina ex-Governor Mark Sanford.

“I have endorsed Mark Sanford because he is America’s great sex pioneer for exposing the sexual hypocrisy of traditional values,” said Flynt. “The Post and Courier and Charleston City Paper now stand as the leading examples of hypocrisy in America regarding the First Amendment.”

Within the City Paper office, not everyone agreed with the decision to reject the ad:

Publisher Noel Mermer stands behind his right to refuse any ad and rejects the idea of it being censorship. “I was approached about running this ad by LFP, Inc. and rejected it on the grounds that I thought it was an inappropriate mockery of our local election,” says Mermer. “I knew it would garner a lot of press, but it wasn’t the kind I wanted us to be associated with.”

Advertising director Blair Barna and editor Stephanie Barna believe the City Paper should’ve taken the ad. “I was so excited when I heard about the ad buy that I was shocked we ended up in a weekend-long argument about whether or not to take the ad,” says Stephanie. “Larry Flynt is a champion of the First Amendment and we should’ve run his ad, regardless of whether or not it made a mockery of the election.”