The Hugh Hefner memoir fallout
Ex-wife said Playboy founder was 'bad at sex' and his LA mansion was 'rundown and gross'
![Hugh and Crystal Hefner](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/fNEGiVRKqsS9wxrKn62hp8-415-80.jpg)
The widow of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner has sparked controversy with a new memoir that lifts the lid on life at the Playboy Mansion.
A former resident of the infamous property in Holmby Hills, Los Angeles and another former wife of the pornographer have both questioned Crystal Hefner's motivation for writing the book, "Only Say Good Things". And reviewers have wondered why she never left the mansion if life there was as she described it.
The background
Crystal, who was married to Playboy boss Hefner from 2012 until his death in 2017 aged 91, wrote that she never loved him and that she felt imprisoned in their marriage.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
![https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516-320-80.jpg)
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
She said that she used to "find girls" for sex orgies with herself and her husband, who was 60 years older than her, said the Daily Mail. But "the man who sparked America’s sexual revolution" was said by Crystal to have been "bad at sex", said People.
Conditions in the house were "rundown and gross", BuzzFeed reported. In the book Crystal recalls how, in 2016, after having blood tests "doctors told her that it looked as if she was suffering from toxic mold exposure".
Hefner's famous mansion "was breaking me down, one way or another,” she wrote. “The house was literally making me sick.”
She also alleged that animals were neglected and abused at the property. Hefner kept two pet lovebirds caged in his bathroom, but several died, said BuzzFeed. It eventually transpired that their water dispenser was broken and the birds were "dying of thirst".
Hefner "had a zoo license" allowing him to keep monkeys, peacocks, toucans and other exotic animals, Crystal told People, but she said that "all those animals were so depressed and sad looking".
The latest
Other women who were part of Hefner's circle have criticised the memoir and the decision to publish it. Former Playboy Mansion resident Jennifer Saginor accused Crystal Hefner of "playing the victim", reported the Daily Mail.
"Take off your bunny ears," Saginor told her, and "stop promoting a brand and image that you are claiming to be a victim of". Crystal "knew what she was getting into" and "got paid for her services", she added.
Kimberley Conrad, who was married to Hefner between 1989 and 2010, has accused the author of "making a quick buck" with the book. In a statement to TMZ, Conrad criticised Crystal of publishing the memoir "in hopes of riding a wave of headline relevance".
The reaction
In a review, The Telegraph's Kara Kennedy said the book was Crystal's "payback: the proverbial middle finger she never gave to her nonagenarian husband". But "the problem throughout is that Crystal tells us stories forgetting that she, for more than a decade, was complicit". To write about how she "strategically climbed her way to the very top" of this "modern harem" and then to "talk about 'survival' is tiresome", said Kennedy.
From "dismal group sex to pre-coital BLT sandwiches", Hefner is portrayed as a "pathetic old man" in the book, wrote Hadley Freeman in The Sunday Times. The "best bits" describe "the gap between Hugh's image and the reality", because "far from being a debonair libertine, he was a grumpy old man who ate the same disgusting meals in rotation" and "couldn't tell a woman's arse from her, well, whatever".
The "frank memoir" is an "illuminating tell-all" that "scratches some of the glitter" off Playboy's "notorious legacy of sexual freedom, luxury, and excess", said Kirkus Reviews.
But the question of why Crystal Hefner stayed in the marriage and the property keeps coming up. "The answer, of course", writes Freeman, "was that she liked living in a swanky mansion, with free beauty treatments and plastic surgery on tap."
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Chas Newkey-Burden has been part of The Week Digital team for more than a decade and a journalist for 25 years, starting out on the irreverent football weekly 90 Minutes, before moving to lifestyle magazines Loaded and Attitude. He was a columnist for The Big Issue and landed a world exclusive with David Beckham that became the weekly magazine’s bestselling issue. He now writes regularly for The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent, Metro, FourFourTwo and the i new site. He is also the author of a number of non-fiction books.
-
'Democrats now have a chance to present a vigorous, compelling case'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
What has Kamala Harris done as vice president?
In Depth It's not uncommon for the second-in-command to struggle to prove themselves in a role largely defined by behind-the-scenes work
By Theara Coleman, The Week US Published
-
How Black organizations quickly pivoted and mobilized for Kamala Harris
In the spotlight Harris has a shot at being the first Black woman to lead the Democratic ticket
By Theara Coleman, The Week US Published
-
Despite the pandemic and environmental alarm, the cruise industry is soaring
In the Spotlight Royal Caribbean, Carnival and Norwegian all went into 2024 with record high bookings
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Shannen Doherty, star of '90210,' dies at 53
Speed Read The 'Charmed' actress was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Demand for nonalcoholic beer is hitting a fever pitch. Booze companies are leaning in.
In the Spotlight One of the biggest players in the industry recently raised another $50 million in funding
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
The Alice Munro claims rocking the literary world
In the Spotlight Daughter says the late author knew stepfather abused her as a child
By Richard Windsor, The Week UK Published
-
5 riveting books to read this July
The Week Recommends The author behind the 'Magicians' trilogy turns his eye to King Arthur and Persephone gets a West African twist
By Theara Coleman, The Week US Published
-
Sabrina Carpenter and Spotify conspiracy theories
In the Spotlight Popularity of viral hit Espresso sparks accusations of modern 'payola' and algorithm hijacking by streaming platforms
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
8 new cookbooks ready to make your summer hum
The Week Recommends The most special of Vietnamese food, Italian American baking for all and a primer on turning beloved cocktails into freezer versions of themselves
By Scott Hocker, The Week US Published
-
Boeing's ongoing problems could create summer travel havoc
In the Spotlight US airlines are slated to receive 40% fewer airplanes than anticipated this year
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published