Crystal Hefner rose to fame for becoming one of the most prominent models in Playboy magazine, but also due to the fact that she married its founder, Hugh Hefner. The business mogul passed away in 2017, leaving a legacy that is both colossal and controversial.
Many former Playboy models mourned his death, one of whom was socialite and reality TV star Kim Kardashian. According to Crystal Hefner, the widow of the Playboy founder, her husband had a hand in launching Kardashian’s career.
Crystal Hefner Admits Feeling Trapped In Her Marriage With Late Playboy Founder
When Hugh Hefner died in 2017, Kim Kardashian wrote a tribute message on Twitter: “RIP to the legendary Hugh Hefner! I’m so honored to have been a part of the Playboy team! You will be greatly missed! Love you Hef! Xoxo”
Crystal Hefner appeared on Piers Morgan Uncensored and responded to this tweet of the reality star and made a startling confession.
“I think he helped launch Kim’s career. She did a shoot for Playboy on her reality show, and she had freedom. I think it was different for me, someone who was there day-to-day and trapped.”
Hefner wrote a memoir entitled Only Say Good Things: Surviving Playboy and Finding Myself to expose the truth about living inside the famed mansion. She claimed to have lost her identity while basking in the fame and fortune of being a Playboy model. She told CBS News:
“I think Playboy itself, when Hef started the brand, I think he wanted it to be all about freedom and expression, and when I was at the mansion, I feel I completely lost myself to what was expected of me. There was nothing free about it. I felt trapped.”
She married the late founder in 2012 when she was only 26, and he was 86. As the third wife, Hefner admitted she was not in love with her late husband. She only cared for him. Still, the experience left her feeling devalued.
“Being at the mansion was very hard. It was very traumatic, looking back, and as I go through therapy after I left, your value was skin-deep, so you had to make sure you looked perfect at all time, or at least perfect to what Hef’s standards were.”
Hefner reveals in the same interview that she has finally achieved freedom now that she’s out of the mansion. She’s also happily in love and slowly finding her true self.
Hugh Hefner Was A Lonely Man
Hefner’s widow expressed her honest feelings towards her late husband and what she thinks of him in an interview with The Guardian.
“It’s complicated. He seemed like a broken little boy, just trying to fill this void. And that’s why he went on to try to overcompensate for a childhood that didn’t really have any love. He was good at getting women to surround him and creating the illusion that he was not alone. But in reality, he was very lonely.”
For the former Playboy model, it was all just a job. She performed on television, for Hef, and for his friends.
