Crystal Hefner, the former wife of the late Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, is opening up about her marriage and life inside the Playboy Mansion in her upcoming memoir “I Only Say Good Things: Surviving Playboy and Finding Myself.” In a recent interview, Crystal admitted that she was never truly in love with Hefner and has revealed the reality of the power imbalances and uncomfortable living conditions she experienced during her time at the mansion.
The couple’s engagement was announced in 2010 but was postponed multiple times before they finally tied the knot in 2012. Crystal described the historic Playboy Mansion, which was acquired by Hefner in 1971, as a place that had fallen into disrepair with inadequate care for the exotic animals living on the property.
She described feeling constant pressure to live up to Hefner’s expectations of beauty, even suffering physical damage to her scalp from excessive hair dyeing. Crystal detailed the control Hefner exerted over the women who lived in the mansion, even regulating the color of their nail polish and their decisions to undergo cosmetic procedures. She also detailed the emotional toll of trying to be Hefner’s favorite and feeling as though she lost her identity in the process.
Crystal is not the only former Playboy mansion resident speaking out. Holly Madison, another former Playboy bunny, also shared details of her traumatic experiences while living in the mansion, including facing body dysmorphia and verbal abuse. Kendra Wilkinson, who also starred in the show “The Girls Next Door,” shared that her time in the world of Playboy “really ruined her entire life,” and she has since questioned the decisions she made during that time.
As these former Playboy residents continue to speak out, Crystal’s upcoming memoir promises to shed further light on the realities behind the glamorous facade of the Playboy Mansion and the toll it takes on the women who lived there.