Crystal Hefner has doubled down on her claims about Jon Lovitz after the comedian brushed off being called Playboy Mansion’s “No. 1 customer.”
The 40-year-old widow of Hugh Hefner fired back at Lovitz in an exclusive interview, escalating a public dispute that began when she named him on the “Lisa Guerrero Unleashed” podcast Tuesday. Crystal, who hosts the “After the Mansion” podcast, had described the “Saturday Night Live” alum as “one of the biggest pervs” in Hollywood and said his “eyes would go front to back [looking at] all the women that walked through the door at the party.”
Lovitz responded that same night in a video, filmed in Los Angeles. “Any time someone says I’m No. 1, it’s a compliment,” he quipped. He added a defense of the late Playboy founder: “Hugh Hefner was one of the nicest, most generous people I’ve ever met and all of his friends know it.”
Crystal rejected Lovitz’s dismissive tone in her interview. “I think Jon Lovitz is part of the problem,” she stated. “I think many men who came up to that mansion [and] were very sexist and misogynistic are all part of that problem,” She continued, “If I could dismantle that toxic masculinity and patriarchy just a little bit, I will feel happy. It’s very sad.”
The exchange forms part of Crystal’s broader effort to expose what she describes as a culture of abuse and misogyny at the famed Los Angeles estate, where she lived from her marriage to Hugh in 2011 until his death in 2017 at age 91.
Crystal named multiple A-list celebrities as regulars at the mansion, dividing them into those she found “horrific” and those she considered “good guys.” Among the former, she singled out Bill Cosby and Donald Trump as men Hugh “surrounded himself by.” She noted Cosby’s long-running role hosting the Playboy Jazz Festival, which he emceed from 1979 until George Lopez took over in 2013.
“We know Cosby is a regular,” Crystal said. “Bill Cosby hosted the Playboy Jazz Festival for many, many years. And I remember one day we show up to the Playboy Jazz Festival and usually we have to take the picture with Bill Cosby and it’s awkward and he was always gross.”
By contrast, Crystal praised Lopez as “always very, very, very nice” and noted “he never came to the mansion.” She also recalled “Star Wars” actor Mark Hamill and his wife Marilou York as “lovely” occasional party guests, and called “Catwoman” star Julie Newmar “wonderful.” She summarized: “Some of the good guys were mostly the women. A lot of the women that came by were good, good celebrities.”
The mansion itself featured what Crystal described as a shrine to problematic male celebrities. One hallway contained a gallery of photos Hugh was “obsessed with,” including images of Arnold Schwarzenegger with “a girl sitting on each bicep.” Crystal labeled these figures collectively as “misogynistic, horrible” people.
Jack Nicholson drew particular scrutiny. Crystal claimed the estate earned a nickname referencing the actor: “Jack Nicholson’s drive-thru.” She elaborated, “He could drive up, there’d be women there, there’d food there, and he would just collect what he needed and left,” She added, “We all know that that man is also notorious for being a regular, very regular at the mansion.”
Crystal’s recent podcast appearance also included graphic allegations of sexual abuse by Hugh during their marriage. She accused him of attempting to force twin playmates Kristina and Karissa Shannon into sexual acts with each other. “Starting to try and shove twins [Kristina and Karissa Shannon’s] heads onto each other’s vaginas to get them to engage with each other sexually,” she said. “That is incest. That is disgusting. I didn’t want them to have to do something like that with each other. So that was very, very hard.”
Karissa Shannon had previously claimed that having sex with Hugh was “like rape,” though a rep for the twins did not respond to the outlet’s request for comment this week.
Crystal further alleged Hugh forced her and other playmates to use unwashed sex toys. “I remember him pulling them out and one of them was a black, double-sided one,” she recounted. “You could see they were dirty and he’s just grabbing us and grabbing our crotches and grabbing these dirty [sex toys] and just shoving them in us.”
Despite the estate’s lack of response to requests for comment, Crystal has emphasized her determination to speak. “I’m not afraid anymore,” she said. “There were people that lived with me that were hurt, and I just think it’s not okay, and it’s a bad example to set for humanity moving forward.”
Crystal earned a Master’s Degree in psychology in November and is currently pursuing her PhD.