CRYSTAL HEFNER has revealed she was emotionally and financially abused by her husband Hugh, who she says didn’t care if his bunnies were happy.
The model was only 21 when she first met the Playboy owner, who was 81 years old at the time.
Crystal Hefner was only 21 when she met 81-year-old Hugh Hefner[/caption]
Crystal was Hugh’s third wife and the couple remained married until his death in 2017[/caption]
Crystal said Hugh abused her emotionally and financially[/caption]
After first being invited as a guest to the Playboy mansion, Crystal was selected to become one of Hef’s girlfriends and in 2012 the couple married and remained married until his death in 2017.
Crystal grew up in Britain before moving to the US with her parents at the age of eight.
She went to school in San Diego, and she and her mother were left with money problems after her father died when she was just 12.
When Crystal became a teenager, she started admiring celebrities like Pamela Anderson and Carmen Electra and started modeling so she could feel as “powerful” and “beautiful” as they did.
She quickly attracted attention for her stunning looks, and one day a friend she made through modeling asked her to submit a photo to go to a party at the Playboy mansion.
The model was very insecure and had imposter syndrome, but her photo was immediately accepted.
Crystal dressed for the party in a maid’s outfit and waited in a garage with dozens of other girls before being taken by bus to the mansion.
After arriving at the mansion for the first time, the model was invited to join Hugh himself in his cabana.
“Whatever Hef wants, Hef gets, so his security untied the rope and shuffled me in,” she told Em Clarkson on the Should I Delete That? podcast.
Describing what it was like to meet the Playboy owner for the first time, she said, “My soul left my body.”
She had no idea what to say to Hugh as she was not working at the time and was only studying at university.
But she now admits: “He probably liked that because I’m younger.”
Crystal described Hef as ‘magnetic and charming’, but admits she now wishes the media had questioned his behavior towards his bunnies.
When she first met Hugh, he had two girlfriends, 19-year-old twins, making them 62 years younger than him.
Facts you didn’t know about the Playboy Mansion
Girlfriends versus playmates
Rumor has it that Hugh Hefner would have two to a dozen “girlfriends” with him at a time. These friends are not to be confused with Playmates. Each friend had her own room, but one ‘special lady’ was referred to as friend number one and stayed with Hef in his room. Each friend received a weekly bonus payment of $1,000 (£760).
Hef’s wild side
The Playboy mansion was home to a private zoo. It was one of the few private homes that actually had a zoo permit. Hefner was a fan of birds. Among his collection – many of which roamed the grounds – were peacocks, macaws, flamingos, toucans and ducks.
The Elvis legend
There was a secret room in the mansion called ‘The Elvis Room’. Legend has it that the king himself, Elvis Presley, had a small slumber party in the room with up to eight eager bunnies.
“It’s so sad and they’re not doing well right now, they just got out of rehab,” she said of the twins.
Of the guests invited to Hugh’s parties, some were ‘playmates’ invited to sleep with him, while others were ‘girlfriends’.
After her first party, Hugh invited Crystal to stay for the weekend, and soon after, Hugh invited her to move in with her.
She dropped out of college and moved into bedroom 5, making her his fifth favorite girlfriend.
Desperate to gain his favor and move up the ranks, Crystal began to do whatever Hef wanted, and in doing so she said she began to lose herself.
“You absolutely have to submit, and I was emotionally abused, financially abused and physically controlled,” she said.
“He told me what I should look like and what I should wear.”
When Crystal first arrived at the mansion, she enjoyed eating the food prepared by the four chefs.
However, Hugh soon told her she needed to lose weight, so she dropped down to just eight stone.
Every Friday, Hugh gave each of his girlfriends $1,000.
“He gave us money, but never enough to leave. It was absolutely financial abuse,” she said.
“Playboy is supposed to be a place of freedom, but I felt very trapped.”
Crystal recounted an incident where she had an argument with Hugh and decided to leave the mansion.
However, she heard Hef telling the security team over a loudspeaker. “If Crystal tries to leave, hold her,” realizing she was truly trapped.
After being at the mansion for a while, Crystal started having panic attacks due to the “craziness” of the parties.
“Do men really think women actually enjoy having pillow fights and jumping on the trampoline?” she said.
She added that she didn’t feel like she could make friends with the other bunnies because they were always ranked based on Hef’s preference.
Once a week, Crystal and the other friends all had to sleep with Hugh, and she said she had to wear the same outfit every time, while the same music played and he put the same porn on the TV.
She added that he would use a baby oil as a lubricant, which caused the girls infections.
“After a while I realized he had no idea how to please a woman,” she admitted.
He gave us money, but never enough to leave. It was definitely financial abuse
Crystal Hefner
She even revealed that she wasn’t even sure Hef himself was enjoying the sex because it seemed like he was just going through the motions.
“He didn’t care how we felt and he didn’t care if we were happy as long as he got what he wanted, it was darn,” she said.
Crystal worked her way up to girlfriend number one, and on Christmas Eve she got a ring.
However, she left him five days before the wedding before eventually reconciling with him.
Explaining why she returned, Crystal said she had tried to open a lingerie store but failed, and had resigned herself to never finding love again after her high school sweetheart passed away.
“I thought maybe the mansion was my path,” she said.
Their entire wedding was filmed, with Hugh receiving an $800,000 fee for the show, while Crystal was only paid $2,500.
During her relationship with Hugh, he was hailed as an icon who could do no wrong, and it wasn’t until the #MeToo movement took off that she started to feel validated.
“Most of the men in the mansion were disgusting, gross perverts and I felt so much better when it all came out,” she said, referring to the movement.
Crystal left the mansion when she was 31 and is now changing homes because she no longer wants to do a job defined by her appearance.
She admitted that she never loved Hugh because she held so much resentment towards him, and described him as the Wizard of Oz because he wanted people to think he was much bigger than him.
Crystal said she never loved Hugh and described him as the Wizard of Oz[/caption]
Crystal said she started having panic attacks because of how “crazy” the Playboy parties were[/caption]
