Porn pioneer and New York City public access star Al Goldstein died Thursday in a Brooklyn hospital of renal failure at 77. While never achieving the national notoriety of Hugh Hefner or Larry Flynt, Goldstein, who founded Screw magazine in 1968, built a print porn empire in New York City based on filth, raunch and being a fearless defender of the First Amendment. Goldstein went on to host "Midnight Blue," a porn-themed interview show on Manhattan Cable that ran for more than 25 years.
Joining HuffPost Live to discuss the life and legacy of Al Goldstein were Hustler publisher Larry Flynt, porn star and public access host Robin Byrd and porn star and friend of Al's, Veronica Vera.
Flynt told host Ricky Camilleri that Goldstein "broke down barriers that people have been trying to break for decades." The Hustler publisher considered Goldstein a "close friend" despite the fact that they publishing competing pornographic magazines.
Byrd remarked that what people loved about Goldstein was that "he wasn't afraid to speak his mind" and told the story of when she and Al went to court together when Time Warner Cable attempted to remove pornographic programming from its cable access channels.
Watch highlights from the interview above and the full segment below:
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