Harry Mohney (born May 30, 1943) is the founder of

Déjà Vu ''Déjà vu'' ( , ; "already seen") is the phenomenon of feeling like one has lived through the present situation in the past.Schnider, Armin. (2008). ''The Confabulating Mind: How the Brain Creates Reality''. Oxford University Press. pp. 167–1 ...

, a U.S. company which (as of 2006) owns about 132

strip club A strip club (also known as a strip joint, striptease bar, peeler bar, gentlemen's club, among others) is a venue where strippers provide adult entertainment, predominantly in the form of striptease and other erotic dances including lap dances. St ...

s and numerous other adult businesses in 41 U.S. states, as well as multiple clubs abroad. For a period of time, he was the single largest pornographer and distributor of adult material in the world. He began his empire in his hometown of Durand, Michigan (located midway between

Flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Historically, flint was widely used to make stone tools and start ...

and

Lansing Lansing () is the capital city of the U.S. state of Michigan. The most populous city in Ingham County, parts of the city extend into Eaton County and north into Clinton County. It is the sixth-most populous city in Michigan with a popul ...

) by buying a failing

drive-in theater A drive-in theater/theatre or drive-in cinema is a form of movie theater, cinema structure consisting of a large outdoor movie screen, a projection booth, a concession stand, and a large parking area for automobiles. Within this enclosed area, c ...

just outside Durand and switching to showing adults-only movies.

Déjà Vu

Déjà Vu is headquartered in

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

; it was founded and is controlled by Harry Mohney, who partnered with Roger Forbes and opened his first Déjà Vu strip club in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

in 1987. At the time, his main business was the large-scale distribution of

pornography Pornography (colloquially called porn or porno) is Sexual suggestiveness, sexually suggestive material, such as a picture, video, text, or audio, intended for sexual arousal. Made for consumption by adults, pornographic depictions have evolv ...

. The gentleman clubs are called "Déjà Vu Showgirls", "Little Darlings" or "Dream Girls" or (by agreement with Mohney's long-time friends Jimmy Flynt and

Larry Flynt Larry Claxton Flynt Jr. (; November 1, 1942 – February 10, 2021) was an American publisher and the president of Larry Flynt Publications (LFP). LFP mainly produces pornographic magazines, such as '' Hustler'', pornographic videos, and three p ...

who are not involved in the management of the clubs) "Larry Flynt's Hustler Club" and "Hustler Barely Legal". Déjà Vu also owns most of the adult theatres and clubs in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, but these however carry different names.

Reuben Sturman Lifetime Achievement Award

On January 7, 2005, Jimmy Flynt presented Harry Mohney with the

Reuben Sturman Reuben Sturman (August 16, 1924 – October 27, 1997), sometimes referred as the "Walt Disney of Porn", was an American pornographer and businessman from Ohio, who co-founded sex toys company Doc Johnson. He was featured as a subject in Eric S ...

Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2005 AVN Awards, which were held at the Venetian Hotel

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

Erotic Heritage Museum

The Erotic Heritage Museum (EHM) is a area with dedicated to displays on the history of

erotica Erotica is art, literature or photography that deals substantively with subject matter that is erotic, sexually stimulating or sexually arousing. Some critics regard pornography as a type of erotica, but many consider it to be different. Erot ...

, and it is located at 3275 Industrial Road in

Paradise, Nevada Paradise is an Unincorporated towns in Nevada, unincorporated town and census-designated place (CDP) in Clark County, Nevada, United States, adjacent to the city of Las Vegas. It was formed on December 8, 1950. Its population was 191,238 at the ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mohney, Harry 1943 births Living people American pornographers American free speech activists People from Durand, Michigan Strip club owners