Hefner and Theodore stayed on good terms for years following their 1981 split. I stopped drinking the Kool-Aid very late.” They asked me, ‘If it was so dangerous, why did you take us up to the mansion?’ Well, because I didn’t know. “When I started speaking out online, my own children said: ‘It’s over. Although the three women had recently begun to share some of their feelings about their time at Playboy on Facebook - Garcia ran a page for former Playmates - they initially rejected Dean’s interview requests. One of Dean’s producers on the film suggested their next project tackle “the legacy of Playboy.” So she began cold-calling former Bunnies, including Masten, who suggested the filmmaker connect with her two close friends, Theodore, 65, and Miki Garcia, 77, who once served as Playboy’s director of promotions. She was coming off the successful release of “This Is Paris,” a YouTube documentary in which Paris Hilton claims she was abused as a teenager at disciplinary boarding schools. And it’s all focused on Hefner, who died in September 2017, just more than a week before New York Times reporting on the accusations against Harvey Weinstein set the #MeToo movement in motion.Īlexandra Dean, the director of “Secrets of Playboy,” began work on the series in October 2020. The battle within the world of Playboy has also epitomized the emerging fault lines of a culture in which public allegations of sexual misconduct are ostensibly given more credence, but individuals remain reluctant to speak out against friends and colleagues. On the other are women like onetime Playboy Club “Bunny Mother” Masten, who have drawn closer through the shared trauma of what they claim to have witnessed while in Hefner’s orbit. On one side are those who forged such close bonds while living or partying at the mansion that they still gather for an annual reunion at a park in Holmby Hills on the anniversary of Hefner’s passing. The controversy has deepened a major schism in the Playboy community. These salacious stories are a case study of regret becoming revenge.- Cooper Hefner January 23, 2022

He was generous in nature and cared deeply for people. However unconventional, he was sincere in his approach and lived honestly.

Some may not approve of the life my Dad chose, but my father was not a liar.

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