Crystal Hefner’s Explosive Exposé: My Life as Hugh Hefner’s Prisoner at the Playboy Mansion
In a shocking revelation about their time together, Crystal Hefner claims that Hef ordered staff to “detain her” when she tried to leave after they got engaged on Christmas Eve 2010.
The Engagement from Hell
According to Crystal, Hef had informed her that they were getting married rather than asking her. The blonde beauty – who was 60 years Hef’s junior – says she had misgivings from the start.
Living in Fear at the Playboy Mansion
She felt she was too young and was daunted by what she describes as Hef’s “deep need to control everything and everyone around him”. Blasting him in the book as “power hungry and lonely”, she tells how like all the women living at the Playboy mansion she was subject to a 9.30pm curfew.
A Loveless Transaction
Shortly after the engagement, Hefner informed his bride-to-be that she would be featured on the coveted front cover of Playboy magazine. Despite supposedly being a big win for her, Crystal says it felt like a transaction – the cover of Playboy in exchange for marriage.
Escaping a Gilded Cage
Her doubts were only made even worse when she learned she would be paid just $2,500 for a reality TV show about the wedding. And she says she finally snapped after hearing Hef boast with a producer about how they would make $800,000 from the show.
Imprisoned at the Playboy Mansion
When she confronted him and asked for a bigger share of the profits, Crystal says that Hefner made her feel like a gold-digger when he asked her “What are you in this for?” It was at that moment that she felt like a prisoner at the mansion.
Flight to Freedom
After meeting Dr. Phil McGraw’s son Jordan, she made a successful escape and moved in with him, leaving Hef with a cancelled wedding and a reported loss of $250,000.
Shame and Humiliation
Adding insult to injury, it was too late to change the cover of Playboy magazine that Hef had promised Crystal. The July 2011 issue was published with the headline “America’s Princess – Introducing Mrs. Crystal Hefner!” An embarrassed Hefner was forced to add hundreds of thousands of red stickers on top of the pic of Crystal’s body which read in big block letters: “RUNAWAY BRIDE IN THIS ISSUE!”
Back to the Mansion?
Eventually, Crystal says that life outside the mansion didn’t work out for her and she ended up returning and marrying Hef on New Year’s Eve 2012.
The Aftermath
Although she expresses mixed feelings about him in the book, Crystal’s candid revelations are just the latest blow to Hef’s reputation since he passed away from a superbug infection in September 2017 at the age of 91.
Allegations and Dark Secrets Unveiled
The 2022 A&E documentary series Secrets of Playboy featured claims of sex and drug abuse at the mansion by former employees and girlfriends. Former Playmate Susie Krabacher claimed that Hefner had drugged and raped her when she was just 18. Hefner’s ex-girlfriend Sondra Theodore alleged he had hosted prostitution sex parties known as “Pig Nights” at the mansion.
A Brand Disavowed
Playboy released a statement before the first episode of the series aired disassociating itself from Hefner. It read: “We trust and validate these women and their stories and we strongly support those individuals who have come forward to share their experiences.”