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