February 9, 2024 • 38 mins
Chris is joined by Crystal Hefner, former wife of Playboy mogul, Hugh Hefner.
They start by reminiscing about meeting at the Playboy Mansion… it is quite the story.
Then, Crystal is willing to share with Chris intimate details of her sex life with Hugh Hefner.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
This is the most dramatic podcast ever and iHeartRadio podcast.
What a show I have for you today. This is
a show I've been looking forward to. My guest today
is Crystal Hefner of Playboy fame, the wife of Hugh Hefner,
the iconic figure of Playboy for several years up until
(00:25):
the time he died when he was ninety one years old.
I'm intrigued by this because I am intrigued by, first
of all, Playboy, which was an iconic brand, and it
was a brand that was veiled in mystery, and it
was a huge, huge brand. And again, look, I'm not
getting into the politics of right wrong, If it's good
or bad, we all have our own opinions on that.
(00:47):
What is undeniable is that the brand that was Playboy
was massive. Massive. It started in nineteen fifty eight, a
young Hugh Hefner in Chicago created this magazine out of
thin air. He borrowed eight thousand dollars, including one thousand
dollars from his mom, to put out the first magazine.
(01:10):
And the first magazine was naked pictures of Marilyn Monroe,
easily the biggest sex symbol movie star human on the
face of the earth at the time. He bought these
pictures from a calendar, and so Marilyn Monroe wasn't even
tied into this financially, which is another kind of story,
and maybe it's foreshadowing for you know, how he treated
(01:33):
people and the misogyny and narcissism of it all with
Hugh Hefner, but he published this magazine that sold fifty
four thousand copies in Playboy was launched. And say what
you will, but the biggest celebrities in the world posed
for Playboy, posed nude for Playboy. Marilyn Monroe, Madonna, Pam Anderson,
(01:55):
and one of the most famous magazines ever was the
Pam Anderson edition. Rockel welch Bo, Derek, Kim Basinger, Cindy Crawford,
Vana White, Yes, Vana White was a part of the
Charlise their own. So the list goes on and on
and on, Kim Kardashian, you name it. They all posed
(02:15):
for Playboy. It was a launching point for a lot
of careers and it was a magazine that in the fifties, sixties, seventies, eighties,
as a celebrity man or woman, you wanted to be
a part of. Steve Martin Grace the cover. There were
great editorials, phenomenal articles were written, and Playboy always quote
(02:38):
unquote kept it classy. It was fascinating to watch Playboy
grow and it really hit its peak when I was
born in nineteen seventy one. It went public in nineteen
seventy two. It really reached its peak of seven million
subscribers for the publication the magazine. And if you don't
(02:58):
know what a magazine is, kids, google it. But magazines
were mail, deer house and or on newsstands, and it
was huge. It was everywhere in the airport. I mean,
seeing who grace the cover and who the centerfold was
a Playboy was a very big honor at the time.
But what we didn't know was what was life like
behind the curtain. What was life like at the mansion,
(03:20):
this grandiose mansion that we all heard of. And I
was a Midwestern boy, so I had this idea of
the glamour and the celebrity and the sex appeal of
the mansion, and it's something I saw firsthand when I
moved out to la and I actually went to the
mansion for a couple of parties. I actually took my
(03:42):
wife there. We were invited and we went. It was
very odd and very dated. And that brings me full
circle to Crystal Hefner, who just published a book and
this book dropped. The book is called Only Say Good Things,
Surviving Playboy and Finding Myself, and she is breaking this
day down in episodes of a podcast you can check
(04:03):
out Beneath the Surface. But Krystal Hefner came into the
mansion when she was twenty twenty one years old back
in two thousand and eight. She became one of HEF's girls.
She then became engaged and got married to heff So
her insight is incredible. Krystal Hefner is gracious enough to
come on, and I have so many questions for her
(04:25):
as we dive in to her book and her life
and the history of Playboy with Krystal Heffner. Krystal Heffner,
thank you so much for joining me. As I said
in the intro, I am so intrigued by you, by Playboy,
by all of it. And I'm sure that is the
reaction You've gotten from everywhere you have been over the
(04:46):
last week while you've been promoting this book.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
Yeah, Yeah, the response has been overwhelming. It feels completely surreal.
So many positive reviews and it's happening.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
It's positive. What has what has the overall response been?
What have people been saying to you? What's the online vibe?
Is it all positive? Are you getting any negative? Are
what are the main questions you're getting? Just curious what
that feel is.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
I'm getting responses like I wish the book would have
kept going, like I didn't want it to end. And
I think that's been the highest compliment. People tell me
that they can relate to it. You know, it's interesting
because it's the Playboy Mansion, which is this place that's
unique and can never be repeated again. But these people
(05:36):
are relating in ways in their own lives, and you know,
we dive into topics of self worth and self love
and bad relationships, abusive relationships, narcissistic relationships, and just it's
running the gamut of the ways people are relating to
the book.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
When I was thinking, okay, doing my research, reading all
these articles and podcasts and stuff, thinking about what am
I going to talk to you about? That that is
the biggest issue I feel like with you, it's almost
like drinking from a fire hydrant. Because I'm fifty two
years old. So I grew up in the latter stages
of Playboy's iconic legendary run. Obviously, it became really popular
(06:18):
late fifties, sixties, seventies, and then through the eighties and
nineties it kind of it arked, right, and so it
really peaked in the seventies and hung around for quite
some time. But then there's the you of it all
and unveiling, unmasking this really mysterious world behind Hugh Hefner
and behind the Playboy mansion that you were obviously entrenched in.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
Yeah, yeah, I feel the hef controlled the narrative for
like seventy years.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
He meticulously like.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Collected articles and had he has three thousand volumes of
scrap books, and so he just controlled the narrative like so.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
So perfectly exactly how we wanted to for so long.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
And I just feel that it's time for other voices,
because you know, a lot of us had a different experience.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Well I'm sure everyone did, right, I mean, Holly Madison
wrote her book, and now you've come out with yours,
and I can't imagine anyone's experience is similar. And so
let's get into yours. You are twenty one years old.
It is the grand There's two big, really huge Playboy
parties of the year. There's the Halloween and that Midsummer
(07:32):
Night's Dream Party. Right, those are like the two iconic ones. Yes,
and so you are twenty one years old, I believe
what it's two thousand and eight and you come to
the Playboy Mansion for the iconic Halloween party. Is that
that's the first time you ever came to the Playboy
Mansion or met Healf.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Yeah, I'd never seen a celebrity before in my life.
Was from San Diego. It's kind of a much smaller
town than La.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
It's funny, it's like two years and two thousand miles apart.
I mean, the worlds are so different from San Diego
to LA even though they seem close. So a friend
takes you.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
Yeah, so I submitted my photos to go to the party.
You have to be approved, you have to look okay
enough to be invited.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
Okay, So this is interesting to me. So let's go back.
Because I attended with my ex wife one of those
big parties. Obviously, our experience was very different. I was
so intrigued to go to the mansion and we'll talk
about the mansion in a little bit.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
Yeah, I would love to because I remember meeting you
at a party.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
I do too. Let's let's not let's not give away
the big the big tea's yet. But I'm just curious.
Your friend says, Okay, we're going to this party, but
we need to send headshots, full body photos to get in.
Is that because I this is a weird experience for me.
(09:00):
I didn't know this side of it.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
Yeah, you have to send full body photos front and back.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
Wow, So they tell you get in a bikini, take
some photos, send these in and hef is probably going
to go through them personally to choose who's going to
be at this party.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
Yeah, I'm not sure who went through them. I have
a feeling with somebody else that kind of the new
what kind of vibe have wanted there? Because once we
got up there was another step.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
Oh my gosh. So this is like trying to get
into a movie. There's an audition process. So you get
to the mansion, obviously there is a huge sense of naivete.
You have no idea what you're getting into. You show
up at it is a star studded event. Even still
in two thousand and eight, this is a big event.
There's celebrities. It's crazy. Some women are half naked, full
(09:52):
naked whatever running around. It's a thing. Are you nervous,
are you scared? Are you just excited?
Speaker 3 (09:59):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (10:00):
I was all of those things. You know, you show up,
You show up to the parking garage because you get
shuttled from UCLA or wherever it was.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
Which is really weird, by the way, because to just
stop you there for a second, that's a weird thing.
Everybody's dressed up scantily clad and you know, half naked
or naked, and you pull into the UCLA dorm parking garage.
You're on like the third floor of a parking garage
and you get in a van. It's really weird.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
Yeah, you're on like a college campus dressed that way.
And then in the parking garage. Yeah, I felt a
big sense of imposter syndrome because I see all these
other women and they look stunning and maybe better outfits
than mine, or more skimpy or whatever whatever the vibe is.
(10:50):
But we get into the parking garage and then somebody
takes a polaroid photo of us, and I thought, oh,
that's weird. Yeah, there's this whole underbelly, this whole other
side to this glamorous party. So we get our we
get our photo taken. It's a polaroid camera. At the time,
I just feel oh special that someone wants to take
(11:10):
my picture to like put it somewhere, I'm not sure,
but all the girls get their photo taken, polaroid comes out,
they keep it, They keep all the photos, and I
later found out that what happens is after the party's
over all, those polaroids go to HEF and he rates
them like A through duh, and the A girls get
(11:36):
invited to whatever the next event is. And if the
a's and b's maybe, and if the a's and b's
can't come, then they move down to C and then
they move down to D.
Speaker 3 (11:45):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
So basically the women going, we're creating this kind of
rolodex for them for the next parties.
Speaker 3 (11:55):
So that that's the first step of.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
Feeling kind of objectified or just seen as an object
or decoration.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
That I experienced.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
But in that moment, I was just excited, and I
went from the parking garage up to the Playboy mansion
to the Halloween party, which I'd never seen any type
of party like that at all, like decoration wise, it
truly feels like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and you've
gone You've gotten the golden ticket.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
Yeah, you've definitely gone down the rabbit hole for sure.
And so you're there and you're having a cocktail, having
a good time, dancing, doing whatever. How did you meet Half?
How did you run into him? Because that's not always
the case for people that show up. You don't usually
even see Half at a lot of these parties, much
less meet him.
Speaker 3 (12:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
Yeah, a lot of the time, he'll just come in
the go down to the cabana and he's all roped
off and just for a few minutes and then he
leaves the party. This time, I was with a very
extroverted friend at that time. I was very introverted and
very insecure, and we see this wave of people going
toward these empty cabanas and my friend said.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
That must be Helf, that must be Half. Let's go.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
She pulls me across. We see this just wave, everyone's
just following. I couldn't even see where he was. But
he goes into this main cabana that's that's meant for him,
and it's all roped off, like the stanchion and the
red ropes, and my friend pulls us to the front
of him, right in front of the cabana. So we're
(13:31):
standing there with all these women like lined up. We're
all trying to catch a glimpse of Hugh Hafner. First
time I've ever seen a celebrity.
Speaker 3 (13:37):
In my life. I'm like, there he is, and we're looking.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
We're watching like he's like, we're at the zoo, and
he's like, yes, in the enclosure.
Speaker 3 (13:49):
Like whoa. My friend starts waving, like, oh O, we're here.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
He looks over at her waving and then he turns
and his gaze falls on me, and I'm like to
do that like me, And he summoned for his security
guards to let me in.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
To the enclosure, into the exhibit.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
Yes, so I'm let in, you know, whatever hef wants.
Half gets So there's a two people just trying to
get me in there. And so I get into where
hef is. My soul has left my body at that point,
and I sit down next to him. I can't believe
I'm actually inside this enclosure in the cabana.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
Yeah, and I'm sitting right next to Half.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
And you guys start having this conversation. What is that
first initial conversation, like, is it sweet? Is a kind?
Is he flirty?
Speaker 3 (14:45):
I think HEF was very magnetic. He was very charming.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
He asked me what I did, and I thought, oh,
you know, I don't have a job, Like this is awkward,
and I said, I said, I'm a the truth, which
was I'm a student studying psychology at San Diego State.
Speaker 3 (15:04):
It was my last semester. Little did I know, like HEF.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
Liked that the younger the better, right, So he says, oh,
I was a psychology major at the University of Illinois.
Speaker 3 (15:16):
So I'm like, oh, you know that. Oh that's awesome.
I'm like, yeah, we're relating. This is cool.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
And pretty shortly after he asked me if I wanted
to go join the group in the house and if
I wanted to stay through the weekend. He said, we
have movies all weekend. Would you like to stay the weekend?
And I was just in a trance and feeling like
I was on top of the world.
Speaker 3 (15:43):
This is how the other half lived.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
Yeah, you're the bell of the ball.
Speaker 3 (15:47):
Yeah yeah, Cinderella.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
So it progresses you. You go into the house, you
say okay, great's let's give this a whirl. And it's
and it's not just you. There are I'm sure a
dozen of su.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
Are the twins, yes, who recently had begin and another
girl who they met the night before named Melissa.
Speaker 3 (16:08):
Her and I connected almost instantly, and we're both from
San Diego.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
Before you got excited all that, did anybody warn you
or is it just kind of pandemonium excitement and you're
just on this wave that just kind of sweeps you
into the house.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
Definitely on the wave.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
Okay, so you're on this wave of emotion. And again
there's other celebs there and everybody goes into the house.
What is that experience you're into the house, does this
go up to the bedroom or are you guys having
cocktails down at the bar? What's going on?
Speaker 2 (16:51):
No, Half is definitely not a cocktails at the bar
type person. He is a creature of habit. Okay, so yeah,
he his schedule is very, very strict.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
But we went straight up to the bedroom. We go
into the house.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
There's a great hall and it's like the perfect example
of like a like an English tutor home. It was
it was ournate, it was there was staying glass and
there was The staircase is like a double staircase going up,
and we just started going up the staircase and I
just thought, Okay, I guess we're going to his bedroom.
This is Playboy, you know, this is the Playboy mansion.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
But I mean, okay, he's eighty one, you're twenty one,
and you're with these other girls. At this point, is
it just down to him and the girls?
Speaker 3 (17:39):
Is it down to him?
Speaker 2 (17:40):
No?
Speaker 1 (17:40):
Is it? So? It's just half and and these the
few of you ladies. It's there's no other people, guys, celebs, whatever,
It's just half and four or five girls. Yes, okay,
so y'all get to the bedroom. What what is that?
I mean, you had to be somewhat but having this
(18:01):
out of body experience. But at the same time, what
the fuck is going on?
Speaker 2 (18:06):
I know, I know, like, okay, I'm just along for
the ride. There, these other girls are here, I don't
know what's about to happen. And we end up in
Havef's bedroom, which is wild, you know, it's it was.
There was carved wood everywhere, lots of like naked photos
(18:27):
and sculptures, and it felt like kind of a cabin on.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
A cruise ship or.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
Okay, some kind of it was. It was interesting. But
I had never seen anything like it in my life.
You know, I I never seen carved wood on the walls,
or you know, it turns out his pajamas in every
single color of the rainbow.
Speaker 3 (18:48):
It was all so new to me.
Speaker 1 (18:51):
And I mean the place is very dated. I will
say that. It's you know, that's one thing that struck
me when I was there is I'm like, oh, this
place looks like it probably was something back in the
seventies maybe when it was built. But you're like, it's
dated now, it's it's a little odd some of it.
Speaker 3 (19:08):
Yeah, nineteen seventy one, I.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
Believe, the year I was born. Yes, So the moment
you get in there, they close the door, does he say,
what does he say? What do people just okay, let's
take off our clothes. What does he command everybody? You said,
(19:32):
he's very ritualistic in that way. What does he do?
What does he tell you?
Speaker 2 (19:36):
He goes over to the bed and the girls that
had been there before, the twins, they were only nineteen
at the time they brought. They brought me into the closet.
I believe Melissa came as well. She was the other
girl in the cabana and picked out one of HEF's
(19:58):
silk pajamas us to wear. So the routine. They knew
the routine, so they told me we all put on
a pair of HEF's pajamas, which we all did all
different colors, and then we proceed to the bedroom where
he's sitting there kind of waiting for us. He's started
(20:21):
pushing his seventy style buttons that you know, something out
of Austin Powers or he pushes it, and then all
of a sudden, the TV's playing porn. He pushes something
else and there's all of a sudden music comes on.
It's like a Madonna CD. I'm like, okay, I guess
this is happening.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
What's happening? I mean, what goes on? So now it
gets sexual?
Speaker 3 (20:45):
Yeah, sex, sex with Hugh Hefner.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
And so it's four girls and Hugh and this is
going on. And so you're did the two young toy
did they start kind of leading this? So obviously they
know the drill, they know how this goes, and were
they kind of guiding you through this?
Speaker 3 (21:07):
Yeah? Well they It was like a thing.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
It's like people take turns to having sex with hef
and I don't know, maybe like for a minute or
something and then it's like the next person. It was
something that felt very robotic and awkward, and even to
the point where I thought, is he even into this right?
Speaker 3 (21:30):
Because I don't know?
Speaker 1 (21:33):
And what are you thinking at the time, Like what
is your emotion?
Speaker 3 (21:37):
I'm thinking that I have no idea what's going on?
This is weird.
Speaker 2 (21:43):
I guess this is what is expected to come into
the house.
Speaker 3 (21:48):
I don't know, but I'm just going to do this
and get it over with.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
And are you thinking? So you're twenty one years old,
he's eighty one, and just so I know your frame,
like are you hammered? Are you high? Or are you just?
Like this is going to be an experience in my
books someday, I'm just going to do this.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
I had a few glasses of champagne.
Speaker 3 (22:13):
I don't drink, like, I'm not really a drinker, so.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
I did have a few glasses that night, So maybe
I was a little you know, woozy on that you know,
half pulls out pot and passes it around, and the
twins smoked. I didn't, you know, I don't I'm not
someone that smokes. Maybe a little bit of secondhand kind
of got to me. But the whole time I felt
(22:39):
like I'm in some kind of weird dream. Anyway, So yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
Okay, So and you, my guess is the attraction to
Helf is the aura. It is Playboy, it's the mansion,
it's all of it. It's obviously not the man, because
I'm sure you've gotten that question before of did you
him attractive?
Speaker 3 (23:01):
Yeah, I feel that a lot of It's the reason
everyone goes right.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
They're intrigued. They want to know what it's like. They've
heard about it, but they haven't seen it.
Speaker 3 (23:11):
Hef is. When I first met him, he was magnetic.
He seemed powerful.
Speaker 2 (23:16):
He's surrounded by yes people, he has a staff of
about seventy people that waited on his every need. It's
this place where you're like, Wow, this guy is truly
the king of his castle and of this world. And
I remember seeing Playboy magazines when I was a teenager
and looking at the women and feeling, while these women
(23:37):
must be so powerful and have the world at their feet.
So it did feel like a place of power and
maybe a place I felt like I could belong.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
And so you did belong soon after this, But do
you spend the night, did you spend the weekend? How
did the relationship because you quickly became one of not
only his favorites, but the favorite, and so how did
that progress so quickly?
Speaker 3 (24:03):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (24:03):
I remember that first night the twins went to their room,
and the other girl that was there and myself we
kind of fell asleep in the bed with half. This
is a bed that was custom made, like the sheets
had to be custom You could probably fit like seven
people comfortably laying in this bed.
Speaker 3 (24:21):
So we ended up.
Speaker 2 (24:22):
Falling asleep in HEF's room and you know, all of
a sudden, he's asleep. I'm the type of person it's
it's kind of uncomfortable if I'm not in my own bed.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
Yeah, yeah, totally. I mean this must have been a
I'm not sure how you slept it all that night, No, barely.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
And you know, he had like these the satin sheets,
and so they're slippery and it's awkward. So the next
day we wait, you know, wake up. He's still kind
of asleep. I look over it the girl with me
that I just met, and.
Speaker 3 (24:57):
We're like, okay, this is weird. What don't we do?
Speaker 2 (25:00):
So we kind of leave the bedroom while I have
still sleeping, make our way downstairs and meet some of
the staff, and the staff tell us, oh, we can
order breakfast. We can order whatever we want. It's like
a restaurant style kitchen. There's always someone someone in there
to cook r We're like, wow, this is so cool.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
And so you felt kind of like a kid in
the candy store, like this this the life. Because I
think what people will wonder is what was so alluring
for you? What was so enticing that drew you in?
You know, even after this this weekend that you had
or that night that you had, it's like, Okay, that
was wild. I'm getting the f out of here and
heading back to my life, Like this is crazy. So
(25:38):
what was it that set the hook in you that
was so alluring? You're like, no, I'm going to I'm
going to go back to this and stay here.
Speaker 3 (25:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
I think that next day, after we had breakfast somewhere,
we thought to ourselves, like, let's go We may not
ever be back here ever again, so.
Speaker 3 (25:55):
Let's go explore.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
Yeah, And we didn't know what rooms can we go in,
what rooms can't we go in, So we just started
walking around the property.
Speaker 3 (26:03):
We saw the.
Speaker 2 (26:04):
Animals, like, wow, there's a zoom here. And then we
went to over where the gym is and like, wow,
a full gym at their house. And then we saw
tanning beds, like, oh my gosh, this is amazing. Then
we discovered the tennis court and the GameHouse and like
all the games are free.
Speaker 3 (26:24):
This is so cool, you know, being you think.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
You're grown up when you're when you're twenty one, but
you're you're still just a child.
Speaker 3 (26:31):
And I just thought it was the coolest thing.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
I didn't see anything like it in my life, and
I did think, wow, this is a place, like I
want to be a part of it.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
So it was even so after that night, You're like,
this is something that feels big to me, and this
might be my big break. Was that kind of the
feeling was this might be a huge move for me
in life.
Speaker 2 (26:56):
Yeah, my whole life, I always felt small. I always
my mom and had my mom, and I had no money,
like after my dad passed away.
Speaker 3 (27:05):
And so I always felt that everyone was better than me.
It was hard.
Speaker 2 (27:10):
So coming from that mindset and then being somewhere where
you're important or you feel valued, it's yeah, so you
kind of push it out of your mind, You're like, oh, okay,
like he expects us to do this like sexual stuff,
but you know, we also get to do all this
fun stuff. And I guess I just didn't didn't really
(27:35):
think about it too too much, just the just the
good parts in the beginning.
Speaker 1 (27:39):
Yeah, well was it I mean this might sound weird,
but it was it easy to compartmentalize the sexual stuff
with Half because I think that's where people are like, oh,
but it sounds like from what you've said and what
other people have said in their books is that was
a very and I don't mean this as a play
on words, but a very small part of life there
because there was not that much to deal with with Half.
(28:00):
It's like he was eighty one years old and getting older,
and so it was like, Okay, if I just do this,
I can have the rest of this as my life.
Speaker 2 (28:09):
Yeah. Yeah, And the sex stuff was maybe like once
a week, but not in the beginning. Not in the beginning,
so you know, he did expect that like throughout the weekend,
and but I did. I think I started compartmentalizing, like okay,
like let's go.
Speaker 1 (28:28):
Was there a friendship at least? Though, Like I mean,
was he a means to an and or was there
in the beginning, because I'm trying to figure out the
relationship was was there a friendship? Was there admiration? Was
there ever love?
Speaker 2 (28:40):
Like?
Speaker 1 (28:40):
Did you ever love Hugh Hefner.
Speaker 3 (28:43):
I think in the beginning I was trying to just
figure it out and figure him out, and.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
Yeah, yeah, over time I realized there was love. I
was not in love with him. I think, you know,
common sense is if somebody wants four other women in
the bed, they can't be in love with you.
Speaker 1 (29:06):
Right after the Halloween party, when did it become a
parent or did he make it clear, Hey, Crystal, I
(29:28):
want you to be my girl, be one of my girls,
and be here full time.
Speaker 2 (29:34):
Well after the weekend movie nights, I went back to
San Diego on Monday, and I thought, Wow, how am
I going to move.
Speaker 3 (29:43):
Forward with my life after that?
Speaker 2 (29:45):
It was it was like a dream, like a dream
that I like, I don't want to wake up from
this dream. And I guess I didn't have to because
Monday evening I got a miscall from a number I
didn't recognize, and it was a voicemail from Hugh Hefner asking.
Speaker 3 (30:02):
Me to move in.
Speaker 1 (30:03):
Wow. It was that quick? I mean three days later
he's like, hey, move into the to the mansion. Yeah,
and did you have any qualms about that or any
second thoughts? You're like great, listen, I'm.
Speaker 3 (30:12):
Just like great, let's let's see what happens.
Speaker 1 (30:15):
So were you still in school? Did you finish school
or did you just drop out?
Speaker 2 (30:18):
And like this, I left my very very last semester
and I thought to myself, I could always finish school
or go back to school.
Speaker 1 (30:26):
Right, And so you move into the mansion. So it's
now it's you and the twins, right, yeah? And so
you move you move into the mansion and immediately what
is that vibe? What is the familial setup? You have
your own room and it feels like employment, like you
almost have a job to do now.
Speaker 2 (30:46):
Yeah, yeah, I moved into bedroom five, Okay, and yeah,
I get I guess I didn't really know what I
was signing up for because there's nothing there's no blueprint
or there's no.
Speaker 1 (31:01):
Right, I didn't know, there's no contract, like are the girls?
Are the are the twins going, hey Crystal, this is
kind of what's expected of us? Or is there a
liaison of hafs that's like Okay, this is what you
are going to be doing, or is it just you
move in and throw caution to the wind and see
what happens.
Speaker 3 (31:19):
Probably the last one. The twins now see me as
a threat. I've moved into the house. They tell me
a thing, and so I had to kind of ask,
Like the staff downstairs.
Speaker 2 (31:30):
Kind of helped me and told me, okay, hef drinks
this and he comes down at this time, and I
just was I was asking them like, what do I do?
What's the schedule, what happens here?
Speaker 1 (31:45):
And what do you feel is in this for you?
Speaker 2 (31:48):
I think to me, because I never I never wanted
to be an actor or anything like that. And I
only got into modeling in San Diego because you know,
it paid some more money than.
Speaker 3 (32:01):
Than a regular job.
Speaker 2 (32:04):
So I guess it was, Oh, maybe I feel like
I could be long here.
Speaker 3 (32:09):
I was intrigued. I just.
Speaker 2 (32:13):
It was gonna go with the flow. I finally felt
that I was important in my life. But it was
it was shortly I found out that it was all
smoke and mirrors.
Speaker 1 (32:24):
Yeah, I'm curious. You mentioned your dad passed when you
were younger. How old were you when your dad passed?
Speaker 3 (32:30):
I was twelve.
Speaker 1 (32:32):
Wow. Wow, I'm sorry. Wow, that is a lot for
a twelve year old girl to deal with. And so
you said, you've I read in several articles how you
have been doing a lot of therapy. Yes, I'm sure
that has come up. Do you feel like, without diving
into your therapy, do you feel like that looking back
(32:53):
was a part of it? Was that father figure, someone
who would represent that in your life.
Speaker 2 (32:59):
I think abandonment issues to definitely play a role. And
when HEF wanted me by his side at all times
and I was rewarded for being codependent with HEF, yeah,
it gave this illusion of I won't be abandoned.
Speaker 1 (33:17):
Yeah, there's loyalty, and you were seeking loyalty and some Yeah,
I get that. And you said you was sometime before
you realized it was smoking mirrors. What was that moment
when did you realize this was smoking mirrors? And what
does that mean?
Speaker 2 (33:31):
Well, when you first go to the mansion, it's this
place that seems pretty incredible on the surface, right, But
after living there for a while, you know, I took
advantage of the twenty four seven kitchen. I ended up
gaining some weight. I ended up weighing one hundred and
thirty four pounds, which is the most I've ever weighed.
Speaker 1 (33:51):
Oh good lord, you must have been a size too
by then, krister and then.
Speaker 2 (33:57):
Yeah, half like tapped me on the thigh. He's like,
it looks like someone needs to tone up. And so
I thought at the time, I wasn't like, f you,
that's rude.
Speaker 3 (34:07):
At the time, I thought, oh wow.
Speaker 2 (34:09):
Like I'm slipping. I can do better. I need to
do better. And so yeah, I lost the way to
got back. I went down to one point fifteen, and
he would then he would start telling me things like
wear something more colorful. Where the flag which is the
Playboy Bunny logo? Change your nail polish, your roots are
(34:30):
growing in dye your hair. I had a bad dream
that you were brunette.
Speaker 3 (34:34):
Put it back blonde. My hair is naturally dark.
Speaker 2 (34:38):
And I just slowly started getting controlled. And then the
mansion itself, I'm like, this place is kind of dirty,
this is this is gross, Like a lot of this
stuff hasn't been changed out, and the just everything like
emotionally and physically just started like this is weird.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
Well the buzz has worn off, right, I mean that
high that you felt that night at the Halloween party
has gone, and now reality is set in that I
am in a very controlling relationship with as you said
at the beginning of this, a narcissistic human being.
Speaker 2 (35:15):
Yeah, hef was very narcissistic, and it took me so
long to really figure that out. It wasn't until my
five years of therapy. Like I've been quiet for so long. Yeah,
I figured out and we didn't have terms then. Narcissism.
I really didn't like misogyny. I didn't understand it then.
Speaker 3 (35:38):
And also boundaries, Like I'm only in the most recent
years learning what boundaries are and how to have them.
Speaker 1 (35:47):
Yeah, I'm twenty one years old. You saw this way
to kind of grab the brass ring, and the power
dynamic was set kind of unbeknoast to you. You kind
of entered into this agreement without I mean not signing
an agreement, but just this agreement where you kind of
moved into someone who had one hundred percent of the power.
So there was no power dynamic for you, there was
(36:10):
no boundaries. That is an incredibly toxic place and life
and relationship for you.
Speaker 3 (36:17):
Yeah, there was a massive imbalance of power.
Speaker 2 (36:21):
And you know, I realize now that the bad things
happen when there's such an imbalance of power. And also
at the time, I didn't know really who I was,
And you know, I talk about it in the book
that if you don't know who you are, it can
be dictated to you by somebody else. And when it's
(36:41):
dictated to you by somebody else, it could also be
taken away.
Speaker 1 (36:45):
Yeah, well, you hope that those people that are above you,
and especially you know he was eighty one, an older man.
You think, okay, he has my best interest at heart.
He's going to take care of me. And I'm sure
that's how you felt coming into the mansion, is like
I will be cared for. There's food, there's a there's
all these things. These people are going to be loyal
and look out for my best interest, and you realize
(37:06):
that you were just a pawn in this game. My
thanks to Crystal, and there is so much more to
unpack here. That was really just the history of how
we got to the present and where Crystal is today.
Is she dating, has she forgiven half? Is she ready
(37:26):
to move on? There are so many more things I
would love to talk to her about, So we will
do that in a future episode of the Most Dramatic
podcast ever More with Krystal Heffner. Check it out. I
encourage you go into the link there and click the
next one and listen to the next episode. But thank
you for joining me today. Truly appreciate it. I enjoy
(37:48):
these conversations, and I really appreciate you being here for
these conversations. I hope I am asking the questions that
you were dying to ask and wanting to know about Playboy.
I know I had a bunch. Check out the next
episode and until then, I'll talk to you next time
because we have a lot more to talk about. Thanks
for listening. Follow us on Instagram at the Most Dramatic
(38:09):
Pod Ever, and make sure to write us a review
and leave us five stars. I'll talk to you next time.
This is the most dramatic podcast ever and iHeartRadio podcast.
What a show I have for you today. This is
a show I've been looking forward to. My guest today
is Crystal Hefner of Playboy fame, the wife of Hugh Hefner,
the iconic figure of Playboy for several years up until
(00:25):
the time he died when he was ninety one years old.
I'm intrigued by this because I am intrigued by, first
of all, Playboy, which was an iconic brand, and it
was a brand that was veiled in mystery, and it
was a huge, huge brand. And again, look, I'm not
getting into the politics of right wrong, If it's good
or bad, we all have our own opinions on that.
(00:47):
What is undeniable is that the brand that was Playboy
was massive. Massive. It started in nineteen fifty eight, a
young Hugh Hefner in Chicago created this magazine out of
thin air. He borrowed eight thousand dollars, including one thousand
dollars from his mom, to put out the first magazine.
(01:10):
And the first magazine was naked pictures of Marilyn Monroe,
easily the biggest sex symbol movie star human on the
face of the earth at the time. He bought these
pictures from a calendar, and so Marilyn Monroe wasn't even
tied into this financially, which is another kind of story,
and maybe it's foreshadowing for you know, how he treated
(01:33):
people and the misogyny and narcissism of it all with
Hugh Hefner, but he published this magazine that sold fifty
four thousand copies in Playboy was launched. And say what
you will, but the biggest celebrities in the world posed
for Playboy, posed nude for Playboy. Marilyn Monroe, Madonna, Pam Anderson,
(01:55):
and one of the most famous magazines ever was the
Pam Anderson edition. Rockel welch Bo, Derek, Kim Basinger, Cindy Crawford,
Vana White, Yes, Vana White was a part of the
Charlise their own. So the list goes on and on
and on, Kim Kardashian, you name it. They all posed
(02:15):
for Playboy. It was a launching point for a lot
of careers and it was a magazine that in the fifties, sixties, seventies, eighties,
as a celebrity man or woman, you wanted to be
a part of. Steve Martin Grace the cover. There were
great editorials, phenomenal articles were written, and Playboy always quote
(02:38):
unquote kept it classy. It was fascinating to watch Playboy
grow and it really hit its peak when I was
born in nineteen seventy one. It went public in nineteen
seventy two. It really reached its peak of seven million
subscribers for the publication the magazine. And if you don't
(02:58):
know what a magazine is, kids, google it. But magazines
were mail, deer house and or on newsstands, and it
was huge. It was everywhere in the airport. I mean,
seeing who grace the cover and who the centerfold was
a Playboy was a very big honor at the time.
But what we didn't know was what was life like
behind the curtain. What was life like at the mansion,
(03:20):
this grandiose mansion that we all heard of. And I
was a Midwestern boy, so I had this idea of
the glamour and the celebrity and the sex appeal of
the mansion, and it's something I saw firsthand when I
moved out to la and I actually went to the
mansion for a couple of parties. I actually took my
(03:42):
wife there. We were invited and we went. It was
very odd and very dated. And that brings me full
circle to Crystal Hefner, who just published a book and
this book dropped. The book is called Only Say Good Things,
Surviving Playboy and Finding Myself, and she is breaking this
day down in episodes of a podcast you can check
(04:03):
out Beneath the Surface. But Krystal Hefner came into the
mansion when she was twenty twenty one years old back
in two thousand and eight. She became one of HEF's girls.
She then became engaged and got married to heff So
her insight is incredible. Krystal Hefner is gracious enough to
come on, and I have so many questions for her
(04:25):
as we dive in to her book and her life
and the history of Playboy with Krystal Heffner. Krystal Heffner,
thank you so much for joining me. As I said
in the intro, I am so intrigued by you, by Playboy,
by all of it. And I'm sure that is the
reaction You've gotten from everywhere you have been over the
(04:46):
last week while you've been promoting this book.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
Yeah, Yeah, the response has been overwhelming. It feels completely surreal.
So many positive reviews and it's happening.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
It's positive. What has what has the overall response been?
What have people been saying to you? What's the online vibe?
Is it all positive? Are you getting any negative? Are
what are the main questions you're getting? Just curious what
that feel is.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
I'm getting responses like I wish the book would have
kept going, like I didn't want it to end. And
I think that's been the highest compliment. People tell me
that they can relate to it. You know, it's interesting
because it's the Playboy Mansion, which is this place that's
unique and can never be repeated again. But these people
(05:36):
are relating in ways in their own lives, and you know,
we dive into topics of self worth and self love
and bad relationships, abusive relationships, narcissistic relationships, and just it's
running the gamut of the ways people are relating to
the book.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
When I was thinking, okay, doing my research, reading all
these articles and podcasts and stuff, thinking about what am
I going to talk to you about? That that is
the biggest issue I feel like with you, it's almost
like drinking from a fire hydrant. Because I'm fifty two
years old. So I grew up in the latter stages
of Playboy's iconic legendary run. Obviously, it became really popular
(06:18):
late fifties, sixties, seventies, and then through the eighties and
nineties it kind of it arked, right, and so it
really peaked in the seventies and hung around for quite
some time. But then there's the you of it all
and unveiling, unmasking this really mysterious world behind Hugh Hefner
and behind the Playboy mansion that you were obviously entrenched in.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
Yeah, yeah, I feel the hef controlled the narrative for
like seventy years.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
He meticulously like.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Collected articles and had he has three thousand volumes of
scrap books, and so he just controlled the narrative like so.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
So perfectly exactly how we wanted to for so long.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
And I just feel that it's time for other voices,
because you know, a lot of us had a different experience.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Well I'm sure everyone did, right, I mean, Holly Madison
wrote her book, and now you've come out with yours,
and I can't imagine anyone's experience is similar. And so
let's get into yours. You are twenty one years old.
It is the grand There's two big, really huge Playboy
parties of the year. There's the Halloween and that Midsummer
(07:32):
Night's Dream Party. Right, those are like the two iconic ones. Yes,
and so you are twenty one years old, I believe
what it's two thousand and eight and you come to
the Playboy Mansion for the iconic Halloween party. Is that
that's the first time you ever came to the Playboy
Mansion or met Healf.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Yeah, I'd never seen a celebrity before in my life.
Was from San Diego. It's kind of a much smaller
town than La.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
It's funny, it's like two years and two thousand miles apart.
I mean, the worlds are so different from San Diego
to LA even though they seem close. So a friend
takes you.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
Yeah, so I submitted my photos to go to the party.
You have to be approved, you have to look okay
enough to be invited.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
Okay, So this is interesting to me. So let's go back.
Because I attended with my ex wife one of those
big parties. Obviously, our experience was very different. I was
so intrigued to go to the mansion and we'll talk
about the mansion in a little bit.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
Yeah, I would love to because I remember meeting you
at a party.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
I do too. Let's let's not let's not give away
the big the big tea's yet. But I'm just curious.
Your friend says, Okay, we're going to this party, but
we need to send headshots, full body photos to get in.
Is that because I this is a weird experience for me.
(09:00):
I didn't know this side of it.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
Yeah, you have to send full body photos front and back.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
Wow, So they tell you get in a bikini, take
some photos, send these in and hef is probably going
to go through them personally to choose who's going to
be at this party.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
Yeah, I'm not sure who went through them. I have
a feeling with somebody else that kind of the new
what kind of vibe have wanted there? Because once we
got up there was another step.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
Oh my gosh. So this is like trying to get
into a movie. There's an audition process. So you get
to the mansion, obviously there is a huge sense of naivete.
You have no idea what you're getting into. You show
up at it is a star studded event. Even still
in two thousand and eight, this is a big event.
There's celebrities. It's crazy. Some women are half naked, full
(09:52):
naked whatever running around. It's a thing. Are you nervous,
are you scared? Are you just excited?
Speaker 3 (09:59):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (10:00):
I was all of those things. You know, you show up,
You show up to the parking garage because you get
shuttled from UCLA or wherever it was.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
Which is really weird, by the way, because to just
stop you there for a second, that's a weird thing.
Everybody's dressed up scantily clad and you know, half naked
or naked, and you pull into the UCLA dorm parking garage.
You're on like the third floor of a parking garage
and you get in a van. It's really weird.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
Yeah, you're on like a college campus dressed that way.
And then in the parking garage. Yeah, I felt a
big sense of imposter syndrome because I see all these
other women and they look stunning and maybe better outfits
than mine, or more skimpy or whatever whatever the vibe is.
(10:50):
But we get into the parking garage and then somebody
takes a polaroid photo of us, and I thought, oh,
that's weird. Yeah, there's this whole underbelly, this whole other
side to this glamorous party. So we get our we
get our photo taken. It's a polaroid camera. At the time,
I just feel oh special that someone wants to take
(11:10):
my picture to like put it somewhere, I'm not sure,
but all the girls get their photo taken, polaroid comes out,
they keep it, They keep all the photos, and I
later found out that what happens is after the party's
over all, those polaroids go to HEF and he rates
them like A through duh, and the A girls get
(11:36):
invited to whatever the next event is. And if the
a's and b's maybe, and if the a's and b's
can't come, then they move down to C and then
they move down to D.
Speaker 3 (11:45):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
So basically the women going, we're creating this kind of
rolodex for them for the next parties.
Speaker 3 (11:55):
So that that's the first step of.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
Feeling kind of objectified or just seen as an object
or decoration.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
That I experienced.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
But in that moment, I was just excited, and I
went from the parking garage up to the Playboy mansion
to the Halloween party, which I'd never seen any type
of party like that at all, like decoration wise, it
truly feels like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and you've
gone You've gotten the golden ticket.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
Yeah, you've definitely gone down the rabbit hole for sure.
And so you're there and you're having a cocktail, having
a good time, dancing, doing whatever. How did you meet Half?
How did you run into him? Because that's not always
the case for people that show up. You don't usually
even see Half at a lot of these parties, much
less meet him.
Speaker 3 (12:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
Yeah, a lot of the time, he'll just come in
the go down to the cabana and he's all roped
off and just for a few minutes and then he
leaves the party. This time, I was with a very
extroverted friend at that time. I was very introverted and
very insecure, and we see this wave of people going
toward these empty cabanas and my friend said.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
That must be Helf, that must be Half. Let's go.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
She pulls me across. We see this just wave, everyone's
just following. I couldn't even see where he was. But
he goes into this main cabana that's that's meant for him,
and it's all roped off, like the stanchion and the
red ropes, and my friend pulls us to the front
of him, right in front of the cabana. So we're
(13:31):
standing there with all these women like lined up. We're
all trying to catch a glimpse of Hugh Hafner. First
time I've ever seen a celebrity.
Speaker 3 (13:37):
In my life. I'm like, there he is, and we're looking.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
We're watching like he's like, we're at the zoo, and
he's like, yes, in the enclosure.
Speaker 3 (13:49):
Like whoa. My friend starts waving, like, oh O, we're here.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
He looks over at her waving and then he turns
and his gaze falls on me, and I'm like to
do that like me, And he summoned for his security
guards to let me in.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
To the enclosure, into the exhibit.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
Yes, so I'm let in, you know, whatever hef wants.
Half gets So there's a two people just trying to
get me in there. And so I get into where
hef is. My soul has left my body at that point,
and I sit down next to him. I can't believe
I'm actually inside this enclosure in the cabana.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
Yeah, and I'm sitting right next to Half.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
And you guys start having this conversation. What is that
first initial conversation, like, is it sweet? Is a kind?
Is he flirty?
Speaker 3 (14:45):
I think HEF was very magnetic. He was very charming.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
He asked me what I did, and I thought, oh,
you know, I don't have a job, Like this is awkward,
and I said, I said, I'm a the truth, which
was I'm a student studying psychology at San Diego State.
Speaker 3 (15:04):
It was my last semester. Little did I know, like HEF.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
Liked that the younger the better, right, So he says, oh,
I was a psychology major at the University of Illinois.
Speaker 3 (15:16):
So I'm like, oh, you know that. Oh that's awesome.
I'm like, yeah, we're relating. This is cool.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
And pretty shortly after he asked me if I wanted
to go join the group in the house and if
I wanted to stay through the weekend. He said, we
have movies all weekend. Would you like to stay the weekend?
And I was just in a trance and feeling like
I was on top of the world.
Speaker 3 (15:43):
This is how the other half lived.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
Yeah, you're the bell of the ball.
Speaker 3 (15:47):
Yeah yeah, Cinderella.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
So it progresses you. You go into the house, you
say okay, great's let's give this a whirl. And it's
and it's not just you. There are I'm sure a
dozen of su.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
Are the twins, yes, who recently had begin and another
girl who they met the night before named Melissa.
Speaker 3 (16:08):
Her and I connected almost instantly, and we're both from
San Diego.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
Before you got excited all that, did anybody warn you
or is it just kind of pandemonium excitement and you're
just on this wave that just kind of sweeps you
into the house.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
Definitely on the wave.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
Okay, so you're on this wave of emotion. And again
there's other celebs there and everybody goes into the house.
What is that experience you're into the house, does this
go up to the bedroom or are you guys having
cocktails down at the bar? What's going on?
Speaker 2 (16:51):
No, Half is definitely not a cocktails at the bar
type person. He is a creature of habit. Okay, so yeah,
he his schedule is very, very strict.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
But we went straight up to the bedroom. We go
into the house.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
There's a great hall and it's like the perfect example
of like a like an English tutor home. It was
it was ournate, it was there was staying glass and
there was The staircase is like a double staircase going up,
and we just started going up the staircase and I
just thought, Okay, I guess we're going to his bedroom.
This is Playboy, you know, this is the Playboy mansion.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
But I mean, okay, he's eighty one, you're twenty one,
and you're with these other girls. At this point, is
it just down to him and the girls?
Speaker 3 (17:39):
Is it down to him?
Speaker 2 (17:40):
No?
Speaker 1 (17:40):
Is it? So? It's just half and and these the
few of you ladies. It's there's no other people, guys, celebs, whatever,
It's just half and four or five girls. Yes, okay,
so y'all get to the bedroom. What what is that?
I mean, you had to be somewhat but having this
(18:01):
out of body experience. But at the same time, what
the fuck is going on?
Speaker 2 (18:06):
I know, I know, like, okay, I'm just along for
the ride. There, these other girls are here, I don't
know what's about to happen. And we end up in
Havef's bedroom, which is wild, you know, it's it was.
There was carved wood everywhere, lots of like naked photos
(18:27):
and sculptures, and it felt like kind of a cabin on.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
A cruise ship or.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
Okay, some kind of it was. It was interesting. But
I had never seen anything like it in my life.
You know, I I never seen carved wood on the walls,
or you know, it turns out his pajamas in every
single color of the rainbow.
Speaker 3 (18:48):
It was all so new to me.
Speaker 1 (18:51):
And I mean the place is very dated. I will
say that. It's you know, that's one thing that struck
me when I was there is I'm like, oh, this
place looks like it probably was something back in the
seventies maybe when it was built. But you're like, it's
dated now, it's it's a little odd some of it.
Speaker 3 (19:08):
Yeah, nineteen seventy one, I.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
Believe, the year I was born. Yes, So the moment
you get in there, they close the door, does he say,
what does he say? What do people just okay, let's
take off our clothes. What does he command everybody? You said,
(19:32):
he's very ritualistic in that way. What does he do?
What does he tell you?
Speaker 2 (19:36):
He goes over to the bed and the girls that
had been there before, the twins, they were only nineteen
at the time they brought. They brought me into the closet.
I believe Melissa came as well. She was the other
girl in the cabana and picked out one of HEF's
(19:58):
silk pajamas us to wear. So the routine. They knew
the routine, so they told me we all put on
a pair of HEF's pajamas, which we all did all
different colors, and then we proceed to the bedroom where
he's sitting there kind of waiting for us. He's started
(20:21):
pushing his seventy style buttons that you know, something out
of Austin Powers or he pushes it, and then all
of a sudden, the TV's playing porn. He pushes something
else and there's all of a sudden music comes on.
It's like a Madonna CD. I'm like, okay, I guess
this is happening.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
What's happening? I mean, what goes on? So now it
gets sexual?
Speaker 3 (20:45):
Yeah, sex, sex with Hugh Hefner.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
And so it's four girls and Hugh and this is
going on. And so you're did the two young toy
did they start kind of leading this? So obviously they
know the drill, they know how this goes, and were
they kind of guiding you through this?
Speaker 3 (21:07):
Yeah? Well they It was like a thing.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
It's like people take turns to having sex with hef
and I don't know, maybe like for a minute or
something and then it's like the next person. It was
something that felt very robotic and awkward, and even to
the point where I thought, is he even into this right?
Speaker 3 (21:30):
Because I don't know?
Speaker 1 (21:33):
And what are you thinking at the time, Like what
is your emotion?
Speaker 3 (21:37):
I'm thinking that I have no idea what's going on?
This is weird.
Speaker 2 (21:43):
I guess this is what is expected to come into
the house.
Speaker 3 (21:48):
I don't know, but I'm just going to do this
and get it over with.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
And are you thinking? So you're twenty one years old,
he's eighty one, and just so I know your frame,
like are you hammered? Are you high? Or are you just?
Like this is going to be an experience in my
books someday, I'm just going to do this.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
I had a few glasses of champagne.
Speaker 3 (22:13):
I don't drink, like, I'm not really a drinker, so.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
I did have a few glasses that night, So maybe
I was a little you know, woozy on that you know,
half pulls out pot and passes it around, and the
twins smoked. I didn't, you know, I don't I'm not
someone that smokes. Maybe a little bit of secondhand kind
of got to me. But the whole time I felt
(22:39):
like I'm in some kind of weird dream. Anyway, So yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
Okay, So and you, my guess is the attraction to
Helf is the aura. It is Playboy, it's the mansion,
it's all of it. It's obviously not the man, because
I'm sure you've gotten that question before of did you
him attractive?
Speaker 3 (23:01):
Yeah, I feel that a lot of It's the reason
everyone goes right.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
They're intrigued. They want to know what it's like. They've
heard about it, but they haven't seen it.
Speaker 3 (23:11):
Hef is. When I first met him, he was magnetic.
He seemed powerful.
Speaker 2 (23:16):
He's surrounded by yes people, he has a staff of
about seventy people that waited on his every need. It's
this place where you're like, Wow, this guy is truly
the king of his castle and of this world. And
I remember seeing Playboy magazines when I was a teenager
and looking at the women and feeling, while these women
(23:37):
must be so powerful and have the world at their feet.
So it did feel like a place of power and
maybe a place I felt like I could belong.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
And so you did belong soon after this, But do
you spend the night, did you spend the weekend? How
did the relationship because you quickly became one of not
only his favorites, but the favorite, and so how did
that progress so quickly?
Speaker 3 (24:03):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (24:03):
I remember that first night the twins went to their room,
and the other girl that was there and myself we
kind of fell asleep in the bed with half. This
is a bed that was custom made, like the sheets
had to be custom You could probably fit like seven
people comfortably laying in this bed.
Speaker 3 (24:21):
So we ended up.
Speaker 2 (24:22):
Falling asleep in HEF's room and you know, all of
a sudden, he's asleep. I'm the type of person it's
it's kind of uncomfortable if I'm not in my own bed.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
Yeah, yeah, totally. I mean this must have been a
I'm not sure how you slept it all that night, No, barely.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
And you know, he had like these the satin sheets,
and so they're slippery and it's awkward. So the next
day we wait, you know, wake up. He's still kind
of asleep. I look over it the girl with me
that I just met, and.
Speaker 3 (24:57):
We're like, okay, this is weird. What don't we do?
Speaker 2 (25:00):
So we kind of leave the bedroom while I have
still sleeping, make our way downstairs and meet some of
the staff, and the staff tell us, oh, we can
order breakfast. We can order whatever we want. It's like
a restaurant style kitchen. There's always someone someone in there
to cook r We're like, wow, this is so cool.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
And so you felt kind of like a kid in
the candy store, like this this the life. Because I
think what people will wonder is what was so alluring
for you? What was so enticing that drew you in?
You know, even after this this weekend that you had
or that night that you had, it's like, Okay, that
was wild. I'm getting the f out of here and
heading back to my life, Like this is crazy. So
(25:38):
what was it that set the hook in you that
was so alluring? You're like, no, I'm going to I'm
going to go back to this and stay here.
Speaker 3 (25:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
I think that next day, after we had breakfast somewhere,
we thought to ourselves, like, let's go We may not
ever be back here ever again, so.
Speaker 3 (25:55):
Let's go explore.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
Yeah, And we didn't know what rooms can we go in,
what rooms can't we go in, So we just started
walking around the property.
Speaker 3 (26:03):
We saw the.
Speaker 2 (26:04):
Animals, like, wow, there's a zoom here. And then we
went to over where the gym is and like, wow,
a full gym at their house. And then we saw
tanning beds, like, oh my gosh, this is amazing. Then
we discovered the tennis court and the GameHouse and like
all the games are free.
Speaker 3 (26:24):
This is so cool, you know, being you think.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
You're grown up when you're when you're twenty one, but
you're you're still just a child.
Speaker 3 (26:31):
And I just thought it was the coolest thing.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
I didn't see anything like it in my life, and
I did think, wow, this is a place, like I
want to be a part of it.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
So it was even so after that night, You're like,
this is something that feels big to me, and this
might be my big break. Was that kind of the
feeling was this might be a huge move for me
in life.
Speaker 2 (26:56):
Yeah, my whole life, I always felt small. I always
my mom and had my mom, and I had no money,
like after my dad passed away.
Speaker 3 (27:05):
And so I always felt that everyone was better than me.
It was hard.
Speaker 2 (27:10):
So coming from that mindset and then being somewhere where
you're important or you feel valued, it's yeah, so you
kind of push it out of your mind, You're like, oh, okay,
like he expects us to do this like sexual stuff,
but you know, we also get to do all this
fun stuff. And I guess I just didn't didn't really
(27:35):
think about it too too much, just the just the
good parts in the beginning.
Speaker 1 (27:39):
Yeah, well was it I mean this might sound weird,
but it was it easy to compartmentalize the sexual stuff
with Half because I think that's where people are like, oh,
but it sounds like from what you've said and what
other people have said in their books is that was
a very and I don't mean this as a play
on words, but a very small part of life there
because there was not that much to deal with with Half.
(28:00):
It's like he was eighty one years old and getting older,
and so it was like, Okay, if I just do this,
I can have the rest of this as my life.
Speaker 2 (28:09):
Yeah. Yeah, And the sex stuff was maybe like once
a week, but not in the beginning. Not in the beginning,
so you know, he did expect that like throughout the weekend,
and but I did. I think I started compartmentalizing, like okay,
like let's go.
Speaker 1 (28:28):
Was there a friendship at least? Though, Like I mean,
was he a means to an and or was there
in the beginning, because I'm trying to figure out the
relationship was was there a friendship? Was there admiration? Was
there ever love?
Speaker 2 (28:40):
Like?
Speaker 1 (28:40):
Did you ever love Hugh Hefner.
Speaker 3 (28:43):
I think in the beginning I was trying to just
figure it out and figure him out, and.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
Yeah, yeah, over time I realized there was love. I
was not in love with him. I think, you know,
common sense is if somebody wants four other women in
the bed, they can't be in love with you.
Speaker 1 (29:06):
Right after the Halloween party, when did it become a
parent or did he make it clear, Hey, Crystal, I
(29:28):
want you to be my girl, be one of my girls,
and be here full time.
Speaker 2 (29:34):
Well after the weekend movie nights, I went back to
San Diego on Monday, and I thought, Wow, how am
I going to move.
Speaker 3 (29:43):
Forward with my life after that?
Speaker 2 (29:45):
It was it was like a dream, like a dream
that I like, I don't want to wake up from
this dream. And I guess I didn't have to because
Monday evening I got a miscall from a number I
didn't recognize, and it was a voicemail from Hugh Hefner asking.
Speaker 3 (30:02):
Me to move in.
Speaker 1 (30:03):
Wow. It was that quick? I mean three days later
he's like, hey, move into the to the mansion. Yeah,
and did you have any qualms about that or any
second thoughts? You're like great, listen, I'm.
Speaker 3 (30:12):
Just like great, let's let's see what happens.
Speaker 1 (30:15):
So were you still in school? Did you finish school
or did you just drop out?
Speaker 2 (30:18):
And like this, I left my very very last semester
and I thought to myself, I could always finish school
or go back to school.
Speaker 1 (30:26):
Right, And so you move into the mansion. So it's
now it's you and the twins, right, yeah? And so
you move you move into the mansion and immediately what
is that vibe? What is the familial setup? You have
your own room and it feels like employment, like you
almost have a job to do now.
Speaker 2 (30:46):
Yeah, yeah, I moved into bedroom five, Okay, and yeah,
I get I guess I didn't really know what I
was signing up for because there's nothing there's no blueprint
or there's no.
Speaker 1 (31:01):
Right, I didn't know, there's no contract, like are the girls?
Are the are the twins going, hey Crystal, this is
kind of what's expected of us? Or is there a
liaison of hafs that's like Okay, this is what you
are going to be doing, or is it just you
move in and throw caution to the wind and see
what happens.
Speaker 3 (31:19):
Probably the last one. The twins now see me as
a threat. I've moved into the house. They tell me
a thing, and so I had to kind of ask,
Like the staff downstairs.
Speaker 2 (31:30):
Kind of helped me and told me, okay, hef drinks
this and he comes down at this time, and I
just was I was asking them like, what do I do?
What's the schedule, what happens here?
Speaker 1 (31:45):
And what do you feel is in this for you?
Speaker 2 (31:48):
I think to me, because I never I never wanted
to be an actor or anything like that. And I
only got into modeling in San Diego because you know,
it paid some more money than.
Speaker 3 (32:01):
Than a regular job.
Speaker 2 (32:04):
So I guess it was, Oh, maybe I feel like
I could be long here.
Speaker 3 (32:09):
I was intrigued. I just.
Speaker 2 (32:13):
It was gonna go with the flow. I finally felt
that I was important in my life. But it was
it was shortly I found out that it was all
smoke and mirrors.
Speaker 1 (32:24):
Yeah, I'm curious. You mentioned your dad passed when you
were younger. How old were you when your dad passed?
Speaker 3 (32:30):
I was twelve.
Speaker 1 (32:32):
Wow. Wow, I'm sorry. Wow, that is a lot for
a twelve year old girl to deal with. And so
you said, you've I read in several articles how you
have been doing a lot of therapy. Yes, I'm sure
that has come up. Do you feel like, without diving
into your therapy, do you feel like that looking back
(32:53):
was a part of it? Was that father figure, someone
who would represent that in your life.
Speaker 2 (32:59):
I think abandonment issues to definitely play a role. And
when HEF wanted me by his side at all times
and I was rewarded for being codependent with HEF, yeah,
it gave this illusion of I won't be abandoned.
Speaker 1 (33:17):
Yeah, there's loyalty, and you were seeking loyalty and some Yeah,
I get that. And you said you was sometime before
you realized it was smoking mirrors. What was that moment
when did you realize this was smoking mirrors? And what
does that mean?
Speaker 2 (33:31):
Well, when you first go to the mansion, it's this
place that seems pretty incredible on the surface, right, But
after living there for a while, you know, I took
advantage of the twenty four seven kitchen. I ended up
gaining some weight. I ended up weighing one hundred and
thirty four pounds, which is the most I've ever weighed.
Speaker 1 (33:51):
Oh good lord, you must have been a size too
by then, krister and then.
Speaker 2 (33:57):
Yeah, half like tapped me on the thigh. He's like,
it looks like someone needs to tone up. And so
I thought at the time, I wasn't like, f you,
that's rude.
Speaker 3 (34:07):
At the time, I thought, oh wow.
Speaker 2 (34:09):
Like I'm slipping. I can do better. I need to
do better. And so yeah, I lost the way to
got back. I went down to one point fifteen, and
he would then he would start telling me things like
wear something more colorful. Where the flag which is the
Playboy Bunny logo? Change your nail polish, your roots are
(34:30):
growing in dye your hair. I had a bad dream
that you were brunette.
Speaker 3 (34:34):
Put it back blonde. My hair is naturally dark.
Speaker 2 (34:38):
And I just slowly started getting controlled. And then the
mansion itself, I'm like, this place is kind of dirty,
this is this is gross, Like a lot of this
stuff hasn't been changed out, and the just everything like
emotionally and physically just started like this is weird.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
Well the buzz has worn off, right, I mean that
high that you felt that night at the Halloween party
has gone, and now reality is set in that I
am in a very controlling relationship with as you said
at the beginning of this, a narcissistic human being.
Speaker 2 (35:15):
Yeah, hef was very narcissistic, and it took me so
long to really figure that out. It wasn't until my
five years of therapy. Like I've been quiet for so long. Yeah,
I figured out and we didn't have terms then. Narcissism.
I really didn't like misogyny. I didn't understand it then.
Speaker 3 (35:38):
And also boundaries, Like I'm only in the most recent
years learning what boundaries are and how to have them.
Speaker 1 (35:47):
Yeah, I'm twenty one years old. You saw this way
to kind of grab the brass ring, and the power
dynamic was set kind of unbeknoast to you. You kind
of entered into this agreement without I mean not signing
an agreement, but just this agreement where you kind of
moved into someone who had one hundred percent of the power.
So there was no power dynamic for you, there was
(36:10):
no boundaries. That is an incredibly toxic place and life
and relationship for you.
Speaker 3 (36:17):
Yeah, there was a massive imbalance of power.
Speaker 2 (36:21):
And you know, I realize now that the bad things
happen when there's such an imbalance of power. And also
at the time, I didn't know really who I was,
And you know, I talk about it in the book
that if you don't know who you are, it can
be dictated to you by somebody else. And when it's
(36:41):
dictated to you by somebody else, it could also be
taken away.
Speaker 1 (36:45):
Yeah, well, you hope that those people that are above you,
and especially you know he was eighty one, an older man.
You think, okay, he has my best interest at heart.
He's going to take care of me. And I'm sure
that's how you felt coming into the mansion, is like
I will be cared for. There's food, there's a there's
all these things. These people are going to be loyal
and look out for my best interest, and you realize
(37:06):
that you were just a pawn in this game. My
thanks to Crystal, and there is so much more to
unpack here. That was really just the history of how
we got to the present and where Crystal is today.
Is she dating, has she forgiven half? Is she ready
(37:26):
to move on? There are so many more things I
would love to talk to her about, So we will
do that in a future episode of the Most Dramatic
podcast ever More with Krystal Heffner. Check it out. I
encourage you go into the link there and click the
next one and listen to the next episode. But thank
you for joining me today. Truly appreciate it. I enjoy
(37:48):
these conversations, and I really appreciate you being here for
these conversations. I hope I am asking the questions that
you were dying to ask and wanting to know about Playboy.
I know I had a bunch. Check out the next
episode and until then, I'll talk to you next time
because we have a lot more to talk about. Thanks
for listening. Follow us on Instagram at the Most Dramatic
(38:09):
Pod Ever, and make sure to write us a review
and leave us five stars. I'll talk to you next time.
Hosts And Creators
Lauren Zima
Chris Harrison
Popular Podcasts
40s and Free Agents: NFL Draft Season
Daniel Jeremiah of Move the Sticks and Gregg Rosenthal of NFL Daily join forces to break down every team's needs this offseason.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.