Holly Madison has responded after Crystal Hefner accused her and others of bullying, claiming they’ve been criticising her in public.
Last month, Crystal — the widow of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner — released a statement alleging that a select group of women have targeted her publicly while framing their actions as advocacy.
“small group of women have built public platforms around tearing me apart while claiming to stand for empowerment and accountability’.
Crystal also said the women involved — widely believed to include Hefner’s ex-girlfriends Holly Madison and Bridget Marquardt — choose public drama over speaking with her privately.
‘prefer public spectacle’ instead of having conversations with her in private.
Madison and Marquardt co-host the podcast Girls Next Level, where they’ve been accused of discussing their issues with Crystal in a way that plays out publicly.
TMZ reported that Crystal says the commentary has contributed to her receiving aggressive messages, including death threats.
“You cannot preach integrity while orchestrating pile-ons. You cannot speak about justice while weaponizing half-stories.
“And you cannot claim moral authority while repeatedly attacking someone who has asked for private dialogue.”
Madison has now commented on Crystal’s claims, saying she’s unsure why her remarks have been interpreted as bullying. She also said she backs Crystal’s efforts related to Hugh Hefner’s scrapbooks, which are believed to be held by the Hugh M. Hefner Foundation.
According to CNN, Crystal believes the scrapbooks contain thousands of nude images and other explicit material involving sexual activity and private moments, and she wants to prevent them from being released publicly.
Crystal has also suggested that some of the photographs could include underage girls.
Because of those concerns, she has called for an investigation into the foundation. She announced this at a news conference last month alongside women’s rights attorney Gloria Allred, who has filed regulatory complaints in two different states against the Hugh M. Hefner Foundation.
Speaking with Danny Murphy and Evan Real on Page Six’s Virtual Reali-Tea podcast, Madison said her stance on redacting content from the scrapbooks has been consistent for years.
“When this whole thing with Glora Allred came out where’s she’s trying to get certain things taken out or redacted from the scrapbooks, I’m totally supportive of that.
“I was speaking out about that way back in 2021. So I totally have her back on that.
“But when Bridget and I were talking on the podcast, we also had some other questions because we also love the tea. We want to know why she got booted off Hef’s foundation [and] what was the whole lead up to this.”
Madison added that she and Marquardt were also wondering why the issue is being pushed now, given how long the scrapbooks have reportedly been in Crystal’s orbit.
“She’s been kind of sitting on these scrapbooks for the past nine years, so why now? We were just curious, and then she ran to TMZ saying that we were bullying her.”
She went on to say that while Crystal is ‘entitled to her feelings’, she believes the word ‘bully’ doesn’t fit what happened and is being applied too loosely in this situation.
Madison said their commentary was driven by curiosity, and that they later made it clear they agree with redacting sensitive content.
“We just had questions about it,” Holly insisted. “And we’ve since gone on and made it clear that we’re really supportive of the things being redacted from the scrapbook, of course.”
When asked whether she’d be willing to meet Crystal privately to clear the air, Madison suggested support doesn’t necessarily mean a close personal relationship.
“I feel like I can be supportive of what she’s doing, but I don’t have to be like having a slumber party. You know what I mean?”
The two women have clashed before. In 2024, Madison said Crystal had sent her a cease and desist letter over remarks made on her podcast, which Madison described as ‘legal bullying’.
Meanwhile, Hefner’s sons, Marston and Cooper, have disputed the suggestion that the scrapbooks contain inappropriate images of minors.
“Over more than a quarter century of familiarity with these materials, we have never seen inappropriate images of minors, as has been suggested,” they said, per The Hollywood Reporter.
“The scrapbooks document decades of personal, professional, and family history. Our father lived much of his life publicly and assembled these materials as a historical record, with the intention that they ultimately be preserved and reviewed in full context, not hidden or concealed.”