Melissa Joan Hart recently opened up about being offered a significant opportunity by Playboy, which she ultimately declined.
Hart gained popularity through her role in Sabrina the Teenage Witch, following her earlier acting debut on Nickelodeon’s Clarissa Explains It All from 1991 to 1994.
Throughout her career, she has appeared in series such as Melissa & Joey and No Good Nick, with her latest work, A Merry Little-Exmas, streaming on Netflix.
During the height of her career in the 90s, Hart, now 49, participated in a Maxim Magazine photo shoot wearing lingerie. Shortly thereafter, Playboy approached her for a similar shoot. However, Hart decided against it.
She discussed her choice on the Sibling Revelry podcast hosted by Kate and Oliver Hudson, explaining why she turned down the lucrative offer.
“I was like, ‘I can’t do it,'” she stated. “I can’t do it, and they offered me a lot of money, and I was like, ‘I can’t do it because I don’t want my brother to be hurt by that, like the last thing he needs. He’s already getting tortured by me and underwear, let alone completely.’
Hart elaborated: “And I would have been willing to do it because I was like, I’m not ashamed of my body. I’m proud of my body. I’m fine with that. But then I’m really glad I didn’t because now I have three boys and I don’t need those images out there for them.”
Reflecting on her decision, Hart expressed no regrets, appreciating that her choice was beneficial for her brother and eventually her children.
She shares three sons with her husband, Mark Wilkerson: Mason, 19, Braydon, 16, and Tucker, 12.
Hart commented: “I always kind of knew that that would be a correlation, that someday, I would have children that would you know, what do I want them to see? And I kind of played that through my siblings’ eyes.”
Hart may have avoided potential regret by declining the Playboy offer, as some women who posed for the magazine later expressed second thoughts. Kim Kardashian, for instance, regretted her 2007 shoot.
Kardashian admitted feeling ‘uncomfortable’ with the experience. “I’m sorry I did Playboy,” she told Harper’s Bazaar in 2010. “I was uncomfortable. [My mom said], ‘Go for it, they might never ask you again. Our show isn’t on the air yet, no one knows who you are.'”