Crystal Harris has reflected on her marriage to Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, admitting she has deep regrets about that chapter of her life.
Harris, who appeared in the final season of The Girls Next Door, first met Hefner when she was in her 20s while he was decades older. The pair went on to marry in 2012 and stayed together until Hefner died in 2017 at the age of 91 after suffering cardiac arrest.
On Tuesday, July 14, 2026, Harris shared a video on social media in which she spoke openly about their five-year marriage. Her comments came more than two years after the release of her 2024 memoir, Only Say Good Things: Surviving Playboy and Finding Myself, in which she also described feeling lost and trapped during her time at the Playboy Mansion.
In the years after Hefner’s death, multiple accusations were raised against him, including allegations of rape.
Harris has also spoken before about feeling “imprisoned” during her time with Hefner and while living at the Playboy Mansion.
Now 40 and working as a realtor, Harris said that when she was younger she believed marrying someone so famous would somehow define her worth.
In the video, she said:
“I regret being in my mid-20s and thinking that marrying one of the most famous men in the world meant I had finally made it, that I finally mattered or had value.
“I regret the years I spent making myself smaller so his world could feel bigger. I regret learning to stay quiet when I could have spoken. I regret the version of myself that I had to abandon just to survive in that environment. I regret that it took me as long as it did to understand what was actually happening — like, years.”
She went on to explain that many people did not expect her to challenge the public image attached to her role in Hefner’s life, saying they wanted her to remain “the grateful young wife, the lucky girl”.
“But I’m done living in that story. Yes, I regret it, and saying that out loud is one of the most honest things I’ve ever done,” she added.
Even so, Harris said she values who she became after leaving that period behind.
“I’m grateful for the woman I became on the other side of it. But yes, I regret it,” she added.
Since then, Harris has built a new life away from the mansion. In April 2026, she married Hawaiian businessman James Ward in an intimate ceremony.
Her video drew a wave of supportive responses from viewers, with many praising her honesty and sharing their own experiences of difficult relationships.
Among the replies, however, was a comment from comedian and actor Jon Lovitz, who had been close to Hefner and attended the couple’s wedding.
Lovitz wrote:
“Do you regret the house he bought for you to live in, after his death? And keeping the money, after you sold it? And all the times your mother was at the mansion? And do you regret all he did for you? And do you regret leaving him and then coming back to marry him?”
His response prompted backlash from other users, with many describing it as insensitive and inappropriate.
Representatives for Lovitz and Harris have been contacted for comment.