However way you look at it, there is no denying that Hugh Hefner‘s Playboy empire was one that ushered in a sexual revolution in the ’60s. Changing the way we feel about sex, the Illinois native opened the world up to a broader discussion about everything that encompasses those three taboo letters.
Publishing the first photos of nude women in the centerfolds, Hefner was seen as an icon by some, but of course also, an exploiter of women as he cashed out on the female anatomy .
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But after passing away on Wednesday at the age of 91 from natural causes, Hefner leaves behind a legacy that also had him championing a plethora of controversial subjects in every era.
Breaking the barriers for smart, civil discussion, Hefner helped push through for civil rights, women’s rights, LGBT rights, birth control and sexual freedom. Not to mention, was an advocate for Children of the Night, an organization providing intervention in the lives of children left sexually exploited and vulnerable to or involved in prostitution and pornography.
But while he was celebrated by some, in equal measure he met with quite a bit of criticism, proving his life doesn’t come without its fair share of controversy that often overshadowed his name.
Hefner vs. Feminists
After Playboy launched in December 1953, it’s understood that in a time like that, not everyone was pleased. With the first issue featuring nude images of Marilyn Monroe, it drew some very angry reactions from a lot of people.
Enduring more than two decades of criticism from feminists claiming exploitation, Hefner wrote in 1970 an internal memo, suggesting “these chicks are our natural enemy.” Shared by the New York Times, Hefner said feminists were against everything his magazine pushed forward.
“What I want is a devastating piece that takes the militant feminists apart,” Hefner wrote. “They are unalterably opposed to the romantic boy-girl society that Playboy promotes.”
The Playboy Bunny rules
In the early ’60s, feminist icon Gloria Steinem went undercover as a Playboy Bunny, writing for Show magazine an exposé that had many eyebrows raised. Steinem reported that the Playboy image didn’t want “girls to have any background,” just “fit the bunny image.”
She went on to say that the women have to abide by very “strict rules” or would “have their pay docked if they ate on the job or if their underwear was showing.”
Steinem added that Hefner wanted to go down in history as a “person of sophistication and glamour,” but sharply wrote he is the “last person” she would want to go down in history as.
Obscenity charges
In the early ’60s, Hefner was arrested on charges of publishing and circulating “obscene literature” after spreading around the June 1963 issue of Playboy, which featured Jayne Mansfield. The case eventually went to a trial, but resulted in a hung jury that had the original playboy, acquitted of all charges.
Bill Cosby and rape allegations
Movie director and author of The Killing for the Unicorn: Dorothy Stratten 1960-1980, Peter Bogdanovich accused Hefner of forcing himself sexually on playmate Stratten during her first night at the Mansion.
“I am, publisher of Playboy or no, a very shy man,” Hefner said in a response to the allegations. “And I could no more force myself on a woman, psychologically or physically, than could the man on the moon. While no charges were filed, Hefner shortly after suffered a stroke in 1985, blaming the director for the stress, which led to his health incident.
In 2016, a woman by the name of Chloe Goins, claimed Cosby had sexually abused her at the Playboy Mansion. She not only took Cosby to court, but she sued Hefner for allegedly conspiring with him in 2008 to commit sexual battery of a minor.
Another woman, Judy Huth, accused Cosby two years before of sexually assaulting her after drugging her at the Playboy Mansion in 1975 when she was 15.
Cosby denied any wrongdoings, with Hefner calling The Cosby Show star a “good friend for many years.”
“The mere thought of these allegations is truly saddening,” Hef said in a statement at the time. “I would never tolerate this kind of behavior, regardless of who was involved.”
Hefner’s relationship status
Married three times and most recently to Crystal Harris, 31, Hefner told Esquire in 2013 that he had slept with “over a thousand” women in his lifetime.
Despite there being chunks of his life when he was married, he admits even with the lifestyle, he never cheated while monogamous. But that doesn’t go without his ex-girlfriends sharing their own take on the original playboy.
In 2015, ex-girlfriend, Holly Madison wrote in her memoir, Down the Rabbit Hole that Hefner was controlling and manipulative. Claiming he gave them an allowance, meals and rooms at the Mansion, she adds he expected the girls to have sex with Hefner and often, in front of each other, even though it was publicly denied.
Madison also reveals they were given a curfew and not allowed to date other people, despite he was not monogamous. She also accused him of manipulating the other women against each other.
Following Madison’s book release and allegations, Hefner responded he had stayed “dear friends” with many of the women but said as the old saying goes, “You can’t win ’em all!”
Photo credit: Twitter / @capcan
