Hugh Hefner’s widow fights to keep Playboy founder’s private records hidden to protect women’s privacy

LOS ANGELES - Crystal Hefner, the widow of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, has raised serious concerns about the potential public release of her late husband’s personal records, which she claims could expose intimate and private details about thousands of women. 

During a press conference February 17, in Los Angeles, Crystal Hefner, alongside prominent feminist attorney Gloria Allred, called for investigations by the attorneys general of California and Illinois into the handling of these sensitive materials by the Hugh M. Hefner Foundation.

The records in question reportedly include 3,000 personal scrapbooks dating back to the 1960s, which contain nude images, photographs of sexual activity, and potentially even images of underage girls. 

Crystal Hefner emphasized that the release of these materials could have devastating consequences for the women involved, many of whom are now mothers, grandmothers, and professionals who have built their lives without knowledge that such images were still being stored.

"This is a civil rights issue," Crystal Hefner stated during the press conference. "Women’s bodies are not property, not history, and not collectibles. No organization should be allowed to claim the language of civil rights while denying women their most basic one: the right to control their own bodies and images."

Privacy and Consent Concerns

What they're saying:

Attorney Gloria Allred announced that she has filed regulatory complaints with California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, urging them to investigate the foundation’s handling of these materials and take appropriate legal action. Allred highlighted the potential for the files to include images of women who could not have consented, either because they were underage or intoxicated at the time the images were taken.

Crystal Hefner also revealed that she was removed from the foundation’s board just one day before the press conference, after raising concerns about privacy and consent. She argued that the foundation’s failure to secure these materials could lead to a catastrophic breach of privacy for thousands of women.

"The scrapbooks contain nude images, images taken before, after, and during sexual activity, and other intimate moments," she said. "This is not archival preservation, this is not history, this is control. A single security failure could devastate thousands of lives."

The Fight to Protect Women’s Rights

Crystal Hefner clarified that her concerns are not about images that were published in Playboy, but rather about Hugh Hefner’s private records, which were never intended for public consumption. She and Allred stressed the importance of ensuring that these materials remain secure and are never distributed.

Allred also raised the possibility that the files could include non-consensual images, including those of underage girls, and called for the attorneys general to determine the best course of action to protect the rights of the women depicted. When asked whether such images should be destroyed or if an injunction was necessary, Allred declined to provide a definitive answer, stating, "We want the right of women and girls to be protected, and so we will leave it to the attorneys general to determine how best to protect those items."

Hugh Hefner’s Private Journal

In addition to the scrapbooks, Crystal Hefner and Allred revealed that Hugh Hefner’s private journal, which reportedly detailed his sexual exploits and tracked women’s menstrual cycles, was removed from the Playboy Mansion after his death in 2017. The foundation has not provided a clear answer about the journal’s current location, only stating that it was placed in a box and sealed. Allred described the journal as a "sensitive item" that could further compromise the privacy of the women mentioned within it.

Crystal Hefner’s Advocacy

Dig deeper:

Since Hugh Hefner’s death, Crystal Hefner has become increasingly vocal about her experiences in the Playboy Mansion, which she has described as "toxic." In 2023, she published a memoir titled ‘Only Say Good Things’, in which she detailed her life with the Playboy founder.

Last year, she announced her engagement to a marine biologist and her decision to return to her maiden name, Crystal Harris, although she was identified as "Crystal Hefner" during the press conference.

The other side:

The Hugh M. Hefner Foundation has not responded to requests for comment regarding the allegations.

As this legal battle unfolds, Crystal Hefner and her legal team remain focused on ensuring that the privacy and rights of the women depicted in Hugh Hefner’s personal records are protected.

"This is about protecting women’s dignity and ensuring their most personal moments are not exploited," she said.