Hugh Hefner sold himself as a champion of free speech who created the Playboy brand to set off a sexual revolution that would liberate men and women alike, but over the years he used Playboy to manipulate women to compete for his favor and silenced whistleblowers.
In the 2000s, Hugh Hefner reinvented himself and his brand through the runaway sucess of the reality show "Girls Next Door", starring his girlfriends' Bridget Marquardt, Kendra Wilkinson, and number one girlfriend Holly Madison. The series made mansion life seem like a fairytale, but Holly and Bridget reveal that the reality was a life full of rigid rules, gaslighting, and infighting.
The Playboy Bunny was the most famous sex symbol of the 20th century. Playboy hired the most attractive women in the world to don the ears and tail by promising an environment where they would always be protected. But outside of the clubs, at the Playboy Mansion itself, and in the company of Hefner's VIP customers, the Bunnies faced dangers and abuses that were covered up by the Playboy "cleanup crew."
This episode explores the 1970s DEA investigation into Hefner, Playboy, and drugs through the lens of two women who lived and worked at Playboy: Hefner's right-hand woman Bobbie Arnstein, who committed suicide while being investigated for drug trafficking, and Playboy Bunny Adrienne Pollack, who died of a drug overdose in 1973.
After decades of silence, Hefner's former number one girlfriend Sondra Theodore shares her story detailing how she was groomed by him to participate in his increasingly abusive sex life. Sondra's testimony shines a spotlight on Hefner's mechanisms for controlling and breaking women.
The Playboy corporate world was billed as a welcoming place for women, but Playmate and eventual Director of Playboy Promotions Miki Garcia and Bunny Mother PJ Masten reveal the rampant sexual harassment they faced as they attempted to climb the corporate ladder.
A roundtable of Playmates recount how decades of women modeled for the magazine because they believed the Playboy promise that becoming a Playmate would lead to a lucrative career in a safe environment. Instead, many faced a hostile environment rampant with drugs, pornography, and prostitution. The circumstances led Miki Garcia to testify against Playboy before the Reagan Administration's 1980s Commission on Pornography.
From the earliest parties at the Mansion, celebrities like Roman Polanski and Bill Cosby were a big part of the allure of the Playboy brand. But Hugh Hefner kept some Hollywood A-listers happy at the expense of the women.
During the 1990s, Playmates like Pamela Anderson and Anna Nicole Smith had reached peak fame and young women flocked to Los Angeles in hopes of being the next centerfold. Yet for those not deemed attractive enough for the magazine, men in Hefner's inner circle set up "shadow" mansions where women were exploited.
In public, Hefner continually professed that he wanted to protect his "girls next door." But he continually failed. Never before heard stories from Playmate Susie Krabacher, mansion employees Stefan and Stella Tetanbaum, and Sondra Theodore reveal the dark truth that Hefner was the Mansion's Predator Number One.
Former girlfriends of Hugh Hefner Karissa and Kristina Shannon, discuss their experience with Hefner and the hit television series "The Girls Next Door," which introduced a new generation to Hefner and the Playboy lifestyle. Telling their emotional story for the first time, Karissa and Kristina reveal that beneath the sugar-coated exterior was a darker world led by Hefner with increasingly stricter rules designed to control the women in order to maintain the Playboy image.
Former Playmates, girlfriends, and employees including Sondra Theodore, Susie Krabacher, Lisa Loving Barrett and Audrey Ann Huskey come together to share their experiences and struggles stemming from their time in the Playboy world. Alongside sex and trauma therapist Dr. Kate Balestrieri, the women reflect on the decades of fear and abuse they experienced and how the Playboy legacy has changed as a result of their decisions to come forward.
Thousands of women across the nation vied for the chance to become a Playmate, but only 12 were chosen for the reality competition “Who Wants to Be a Playboy Centerfold?” The two-hour prime-time special aired on Fox in 2002, bringing together aspiring Playmates in typical house reality show fashion. Photo shoots at the Playboy Mansion and a nude centerfold layout culminated in eliminations and, ultimately, a winner, whose prize was to become the Playmate of the Month. Contestants share what the show was truly like, how the experience changed them, and how being associated with Playboy fulfilled dreams and also caused heartache.
After a divorce in the late 90s, Hugh Hefner became a bachelor again, and the era of the seven girlfriends emerged. For some, being one of the seven girlfriends was a highly coveted position that was as much a job as it was a relationship. Hef's girlfriends were not only supported by him, but they were used to publicly promote the Playboy brand during lavish events and club outings. But being a girlfriend was not all glitz and glam. The inner-drama that ensued among the girlfriends played out on the public stage.
In 1977 Playboy introduced pictorials featuring often barely-legal college women. Playboy went to university campuses across the country and hosted auditions for female students to pose and represent their school. While some of these women jumped at the chance to audition, others protested the magazine's presence on campus. For those that were selected, the choice to pose for Playboy sometimes resulted in unanticipated, far reaching consequences, in their personal lives and their careers.
Sondra Theodore and her daughter Katie explore their dramatically different versions of life at the Playboy Mansion as they work to heal the trauma in their complicated relationship.
Posing for Playboy seems like a dream come true for many young women, but the allure of fame and fortune comes with a steep price: their bodies become commodities, their choices are restricted by a company that seeks to profit from their sexuality, and sometimes instead of opening doors for the women, it closes them.
The sports world is often criticized for not only underpaying and undervaluing female athletes, but these women are also notoriously sexualized. It is something investigative journalist and former Playboy cover model, Lisa Guerrero has personally experienced during her time as an NFL cheerleader and sports reporter. Lisa talks with three athletes who made the controversial decision to pose for Playboy, and the backlash they received from appearing in with the magazine.
Playboy has long been known for its pictorials of working women. Perhaps none of these features were more tantalizing to their readers than those of women in uniform. Playboy cover model and investigative journalist Lisa Guerrero sits down with a former NYPD officer and a former US Air Force Training Instructor to discuss the highs, and lows, of their fateful decision to pose.
While Playboy usually featured a specific standard of beauty in its magazine, it occasionally disrupted that norm by showcasing models not typically seen within its pages. Those decisions often created controversy. Investigative journalist and former Playboy cover model Lisa Guerrero talks with three Playboy models who were not the traditional women readers were accustomed to.
