Crystal Hefner says Playboy wouldn't have survived the #MeToo movement
Hugh Hefner and Crystal Hefner.
Charley Gallay/Getty Images for PlayboyCrystal Hefner says late husband Hugh Hefner would 'absolutely not' have survived the #MeToo movement.
“I've been thinking about this because #MeToo happened literally a month after his death,” she told the newspaper Daily email on Wednesday, January 24. “He left Earth just in time.”
Hugh died in September 2017 at the age of 91, just a month before the sexual abuse allegations Harvey Weinstein was made public and sparked a movement of women sharing their experiences of sexual violence. (Weinstein, 71, is currently in prison after being found guilty on charges of rape and sexual assault.)
Hugh founded Playboy magazine in 1953. The publication eventually expanded into an entire brand, including the Playboy Bunnies and their residence at the Playboy Mansion.
While Hollywood may seem all glitz and glamor at first glance, the industry has seen its fair share of scandals over the years. The New York Times and the New Yorker first published investigative pieces in 2017 accusing disgruntled film producer Harvey Weinstein of decades of sexual assault and harassment. Shortly afterwards, Weinstein stood trial and did so […]
“I feel like the mansion was so unique and couldn't be replicated,” Crystal continued. “It was a weird social experiment at the time, but I don't know how he would have coped during #MeToo.”
Crystal Hefner.
Aude Guerrucci/Getty ImagesAlthough several former Playboy Bunnies – including Crystal – have spoken candidly about their experiences at the mansion, Crystal made it clear that she “never [Hef] like a predator.” That said, she admitted she was “scared” about having sex alone with Hugh.
“He was used to some kind of show, some kind of circus up there,” Crystal said Daily email, referring to his bedroom. “So, just me? That is not enough. It's easy to feel like you're not enough there.”
Crystal met Hugh at a Halloween party at the mansion in 2008, when she was 21. She moved into the Los Angeles home soon after, and on Christmas Eve in 2010, Hugh gave her a ring as a proposal. They briefly broke up before finally walking down the aisle on New Year's Eve in 2012. The two were still married when Hugh died five years later.
On Tuesday, January 23, Crystal released her memoir, Only say good things: Surviving Playboy and finding myselfwhich detailed her life as a Playboy Bunny.
“Life in the country house was not the fairy tale I had ever hoped for,” she wrote. “From the outside, of course, it had everything of a fairy tale. But that wasn't the case, and everyone who lived there knew it.”
When describing her and Hugh's marriage, Crystal admitted that she was “never in love” with the media mogul.
“I loved this old man the way you're supposed to love your parents,” she continued. “The way you're supposed to love someone who is nearing the end of a long and complicated life.”