Crystal Hefner has detailed new allegations of sexual abuse by her late husband Hugh Hefner, including claims of incestuous coercion and rape during their marriage.
The 40-year-old widow, who married the Playboy founder in 2012 and remained with him until his death at 91 in September 2017, made the accusations during Tuesday’s episode of the “Lisa Guerrero Unleashed” podcast. Crystal described enduring sexual acts she found deeply uncomfortable and physically painful, stating that she ultimately complied with whatever Hugh demanded.
“I do believe that I did whatever he wanted me to do. And if that involved sex, then I just did what he wanted me to do,” she recalled on the podcast when asked whether she considers herself to have been raped.
Crystal described disturbing episodes involving other women at the mansion. She accused Hugh of attempting to force twin sisters Kristina and Karissa Shannon into sexual contact with each other.
“He’s 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,” Crystal said.
“That is incest. That is disgusting,” she continued. “I didn’t want them to have to do something like that with each other. So that was very, very hard.”
Crystal also alleged that Hugh forced her and other playmates to use visibly soiled sex toys during encounters.
“I remember him pulling them out and one of them was a black, double-sided one. 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,” she said.
When host Lisa Guerrero characterized the behavior as rape, Crystal agreed.
“He’s not gentle,” she said. “After, he’s snoring and I’m like trying to sleep after what happened and my body’s in pain.”
Crystal characterized Hugh’s sexual appetites as driven by escalating need rather than intimacy, noting that acts involving anal and vaginal penetration with other women were “not cool.”
“He just needed more of a high or stimulation. There was nothing intimate about anything to do with him,” she said.
The podcast appearance marks Crystal’s latest public condemnation of her late husband. Earlier this month, she sent an emotional message to Jessica Biel urging the actress not to portray her in the forthcoming “Playmates” film, writing that she “experienced sexual, emotional, financial and physical abuse” at Hugh’s hands.
“Many other women have come forward with allegations of rape, coercion, drugging and exploitation as well,” Crystal added in that plea.
Crystal’s 2024 memoir “Only Say Good Things: Surviving Playboy and Finding Myself” previously detailed Hugh’s controlling behavior, including demands that she lose weight and directives about her clothing. She has stated she was never “in love” with him and has described the mansion’s conditions as “gross.”
In August, Crystal told the “No One Asked Her” podcast that she felt “absolutely brainwashed” during her marriage, noting that 70 employees supervised her at the mansion. She also said no external validation of her experience was available at the time.
During the Guerrero interview, Crystal additionally identified comedian Jon Lovitz as a frequent mansion guest, calling him Playboy’s “No. 1 customer.”
“He would be up there all the time,” she recalled. “His eyes would go front to back [looking at] all the women that walked through the door at the party.”
Karissa Shannon had previously described having sex with Hugh as “like rape,” though a representative for the twins did not respond to requests for comment regarding Crystal’s latest allegations.
Crystal married marine biologist James Ward in April after the pair began dating in 2024.