Crystal Hefner has publicly urged Jessica Biel to turn down her role in the upcoming film “Playmates,” warning that the project risks glamorizing the Playboy world she says traumatized her.
Hefner, 38, who was married to the late Playboy founder from 2012 until his death in 2017, sent Biel a direct message that she then posted to her Instagram profile. Biel, 44, is attached to play a fictional wife of Hugh Hefner in the movie, though the character is not specifically modeled on any of his three real-life spouses.
“Please reconsider playing Hugh Hefner’s ‘wife’ if this film intends to romanticize him or the Playboy world,” Hefner wrote in the DM.
Hefner continued her message with stark personal testimony about her marriage. “I was actually his wife, and I experienced sexual, emotional, financial and physical abuse in that relationship,” she wrote. She added that many other women had come forward with allegations of rape, coercion, drugging and exploitation, and claimed there were “deeply troubling concerns involving minors.”
The film, which also stars Lily-Rose Depp, Bill Pullman and Indiana Elle, follows a 13-year-old who considers the Playboy Mansion her second home, according to the synopsis.
Earlier this year, Hefner demanded that Hefner’s foundation conduct an investigation, claiming they possess one of his scrapbooks that could contain explicit pictures of underage girls. Hugh Hefner’s sons Cooper and Marston Hefner told Global News they and several others had reviewed the scrapbooks and “never seen inappropriate images of minors, as has been suggested.”
“I hope everyone involved in this film takes the time to listen to the women who lived it,” Hefner concluded in her message to Biel.
Hefner’s public appeal comes after she released her memoir “Only Say Good Things: Surviving Playboy and Finding Myself” in 2024, six years after Hugh Hefner’s death at age 91 from cardiac arrest. His death certificate also listed respiratory failure, septicaemia and an antibiotic-resistant E. Coli infection. According to her book, his final words were “I’m okay,” spoken as he received fluids via an IV drip.
In the memoir, Hefner detailed strict controls Hugh Hefner allegedly imposed on his girlfriends. She wrote that he made them come to him weekly to collect their “allowance,” and dictated their appearance down to their nail polish. “Our nail polish couldn’t be anything but some neutral color, no French manicure,” she wrote. She also recalled him telling her to “Wear the flag,” referring to uncomfortable and cheap Playboy logo shirts, and claimed she burned her scalp with bleach after he repeatedly pointed out her darker roots showing. “But for some reason I thought this was all normal and that’s what it meant to be seen as beautiful in Hef’s eyes,” she added.
The couple had briefly called off their wedding in June 2011 before reconciling a year later and marrying.
A Playboy spokesperson previously stated: “The Hefner family is no longer associated with Playboy, and today’s Playboy is not Hugh Hefner’s Playboy. Today, our organization is run by a workforce that is more than 80% female, and we will continue to confront any parts of our legacy that do not reflect our values today, and to build upon the progress we have made as we evolve as a company so we can drive positive change for our employees and our communities.”
