Crystal Harris says filmmakers should listen to women who experienced life in the Playboy world before presenting Hugh Hefner’s legacy on screen.
Hugh Hefner’s widow Crystal Harris posted a message on Instagram urging actress Jessica Biel to reconsider her role in an upcoming movie about the Playboy founder. Harris shared a screenshot of a private message she had sent Biel and asked her to think carefully before accepting the part of Hefner’s wife. She wrote that she was actually married to Hefner and had suffered sexual and emotional as well as financial and physical abuse during their time together.
Harris also pointed out that many other women have come forward with similar stories of exploitation and coercion. She added concerns about troubling situations involving minors in the Playboy world. The movie titled Playmates is based on the experiences of writer and director Lorraine Nicholson — the daughter of Jack Nicholson and Rebecca Broussard.
Nicholson’s film draws on her childhood memories of visiting the Playboy Mansion which she described in a 2024 essay published in Vanity Fair according to a report from TheWrap.
The story follows a young girl named Elle — played by Indiana Elle — and Anna — played by Lily-Rose Depp — as they form an unlikely friendship as justjared.com reported. The film features Bill Pullman as Hugh Hefner and Jessica Biel as a fictionalized wife of the Playboy founder. Harris was married to Hefner from 2012 until his death in 2017 at age 91.
She met Hefner at a Playboy Mansion party when she was just 21 years old and moved in shortly after. She later described her time with him as a period marked by coercion and exploitation as well as financial control that made leaving difficult. Harris published a memoir in 2024 titled ‘Only Say Good Things: Surviving Playboy and Finding Myself’ which details her life inside the Playboy universe.
She said she regretted marrying Hefner in 2012 when he was 86 and she was 26. Harris also noted that Hefner was old enough to be her grandfather with a 60-year age gap between them. She previously appeared on the reality show ‘The Girls Next Door’ which depicted life in the Playboy Mansion.
Harris has since remarried and wed James Ward on April 2 of this year in the Cook Islands. She encouraged everyone involved in the film to listen to women who lived through the Playboy world before turning it into a nostalgic story. The movie is a comedy-drama centered on a young girl growing up around the Playboy Mansion and her friendship with a Playmate hopeful.
No release date for the film has been publicly announced. It will be directed by Lorraine Nicholson.
The film’s plot centers on a 13-year-old girl named Elle and her journey with Anna — one of the hopefuls for Playmate of the Month. Biel’s role is that of a fictional wife of Hefner who herself was once a Playmate.
Hefner was married three times — to Millie Williams Kimberley Conrad and then Crystal Harris.
IMAGE: Credit: Georges Biard CC3