Crystal Hefner, Hugh Hefner's widow, says she wasn't completely honest about what living in the Playboy Mansion was like because she wanted to "protect" Hugh. Now, she's ready to share her story and talk about the "toxic objectification and misogyny" she experienced.
Crystal, 37, will share her story in Only Say Good Things, her memoir that will be published in January 2024.
“Since his passing, I have had to do a lot of self-discovery," Crystal told the Daily Mail. "I have had to find out who I am without it being dictated to me. I have had to not only find my voice, but I also had to learn how to use that voice. My book is a testament to the power of time, processing all that I have been through and embracing my truth."
When Crystal was 21 years old, she attended her first party at the Playboy Mansion. Hugh Hefner "picked her out from the crowd" and Crystal became "one of his infamous 'girlfriends.'"
Hugh was 60 years older than Crystal. Crystal said she was "surprised" when Hugh proposed, but it was an offer that she "could not imagine refusing."
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Hefner's girlfriends had "strict rules" and were part of a "highly hierarchal system" in which they had to compete with each other.
She described her relationship with Hugh as complicated, saying, "It was [a relationship] where, no matter how I was treated, I always felt like I had to protect him, which is why I have not shared my story until now."
Crystal was married to Hefner from 2012 until he died in 2017. While being married to Hefner gave Crystal access to a luxurious lifestyle, she also admits that her young adulthood was "stolen" and the environment was "toxic" in ways that she had not previously admitted. She has had to work on understanding who she is outside of the mansion and her relationship with Hefner.
Part of that process has been opting for a more "down-to-earth" lifestyle.
"I've never been the heels and dress and full makeup, I've never been that kind of person. Maybe I felt like I had to be in the role I was in, being Playmate or being a part of Playboy, that I had to be dolled up," she told The Sunday Telegraph in 2018. "I think now I am more myself, which is the more down-to-earth, minimal makeup, that is where I feel the most comfortable."
Crystal has also spoken out against plastic surgery. She says her breast implants, which she had removed in 2016, were "slowly poisoning" her.
She also said she needed a blood transfusion after a fat transfer procedure in 2020.
After that experience, she posted on Instagram in 2021, writing, "I had a fat transfer surgery October 16 and almost didn’t make it through. I lost half the blood in my body and ended up in the hospital needing a blood transfusion. I’ve been slowly eating my way back to health since then and I am now finally feeling ok."
"I advocate for being natural since I got very ill and removed my implants and everything else toxic in my body in 2016," she continued. "I should have learned my lesson the first time but I guess the universe keeps sending you the same lesson until you learn it."
Holly Madison, who was with Hugh Hefner for several years, has also spoken up about the toxic, misogynistic environment.
Last year, she said Hugh Hefner kept "all kinds of naked pictures" of her and part of the reason she stayed with him was out of fear that he would share the photos.
"When I lived at the mansion, I was afraid to leave," Holly said. "Something that was always lingering in the back of my mind, I think since the very beginning, was that if I left there was just this mountain of revenge porn just waiting to come out."
The A&E documentary Secrets of Playboy exposed the way Hugh preyed on women who were vulnerable.
Sondra Theodore, another one of his ex-girlfriends, described him as a "predator." She was 19 when Hefner went after her. He was 50 years old.
"He groomed me and twisted my mind into thinking his way was normal," she said. "He introduced me to drugs. I’d never had a drink or a drug before going up to the Playboy Mansion. And my first night there I was handed champagne and the drugs came later, and I was underage."
Crystal has also opened up about how Playboy affected her self-image.
"Our culture is a trap and makes women feel terrible about themselves. Movies (84.9% directed by men) make it worse. Social media makes it worse. Advertisements make it worse. Physically fake people make it worse (I was one of them)," Crystal wrote on Instagram in 2021.
"Women are overly sexualized. I know from the worst kind of experience. For ten years my value was based on how good my physical body looked," she continued. "I was rewarded and made a living based on my outer appearance. To this day I need to write reminders of why I’m worthy that have nothing to do with my physical appearance to convince myself that I’m enough."
