"Complicated legacy"/ "Hugh Hefner's ex calls him a 'monster' as she recalls traumatic relationship"

This article is set before Oct. 2017, before the downfall of Harvey Weinstein. 

Sept. 29, 2017 "Complicated legacy": Today I found this article by Andrew Dalton in the Edmonton Journal:

Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner became a champion of sexual freedom — and a target of feminist anger

LOS ANGELES — Playboy founder Hugh M. Hefner, the pipe-smoking hedonist who revved up the sexual revolution in the 1950s, has died at 91.

Hefner died of natural causes at his home surrounded by family on Wednesday night, Playboy said in a statement.

As much as anyone, Hefner helped slip sex out of the confines of plain brown wrappers and into mainstream conversation.

In 1953, a time when states could legally ban contraceptives, when the word “pregnant” was not allowed on I Love Lucy, Hefner published the first issue of Playboy, featuring naked photos of Marilyn Monroe (taken years earlier) and an editorial promise of “humour, sophistication and spice.”

Playboy soon became forbidden fruit for teenage boys and a bible for men with time and money. Within a year, circulation neared 200,000. Within five years, it had topped 1 million.

By the 1970s, the magazine had more than seven million readers and had inspired raunchier imitations such as Penthouse and Hustler. 

Competition and the internet reduced circulation to less than three million by the 21st century.

But Hefner and Playboy remained brand names worldwide.

Asked by The New York Times in 1992 of what he was proudest, Hefner responded: “That I changed attitudes toward sex. That nice people can live together now.”

Hefner was born in Chicago on April 9, 1926, to devout Methodist parents who he said never showed “love in a physical or emotional way. Part of the reason that I am who I am is my Puritan roots run deep,” he said in 2011. “My folks are Puritan. My folks are prohibitionists. There was no drinking in my home. No discussion of sex. And I think I saw the hurtful and hypocritical side of that from very early on. ”

Hefner ran Playboy from his elaborate mansions, first in Chicago and then in Los Angeles, and became the flamboyant symbol of the lifestyle he espoused.

For decades he was the pipe-smoking, silk pajama-wearing centre of a constant party with celebrities and Playboy models.

Hefner was host of a TV show, Playboy After Dark, and in 1960 opened a string of clubs around the world where waitresses wore revealing costumes with bunny ears and fluffy white bunny tails.

Playboy ’s clubs also influenced the culture, giving early breaks to such entertainers as George Carlin, Rich Little, Mark Russell, Dick Gregory and Redd Foxx.

The last of the clubs closed in 1988, when Hefner deemed them “passe” and “too tame for the times.”

In the 21st century, he was back on TV in a cable reality show — The Girls Next Door — with three live-in girlfriends in the Los Angeles Playboy mansion.

Playboy proved a scourge, and a temptation. Drew Barrymore, Farrah Fawcett and Linda Evans are among those who have posed for the magazine.

Several bunnies became celebrities, too, including singer Deborah Harry and model Lauren Hutton, both of whom had fond memories of their time with Playboy.

Other bunnies had traumatic experiences, with several alleging they had been raped by Hefner’s close friend Bill Cosby, who faced dozens of such allegations.

Hefner issued a statement in late 2014 he “would never tolerate this behaviour.”

But two years later, former bunny Chloe Goins sued Cosby and Hefner for sexual battery, gender violence and other charges over an alleged 2008 rape at the Playboy Mansion.

After a stroke, Hefner handed control of his empire to his feminist daughter, Christie, although he owned 70 per cent of Playboy stock and continued to choose every month’s Playmate and cover shot. Christie Hefner continued as CEO until 2009.

Hefner is survived by his wife Crystal as well as his daughter, Christie, and his sons, David, Marston and Cooper.

https://www.pressreader.com/canada/the-london-free-press/20170929/281973197851220

Feb. 14, 2022 "Hugh Hefner's ex calls him a 'monster' as she recalls traumatic relationship": Today I found this article by Taryn Ryder on Yahoo news:

Monday's episode of Secrets of Playboy featured many disturbing claims about Hugh Hefner and the depravity that went on at the Playboy Mansion. Hefner's ex-girlfriend, Sondra Theodore, emotionally opened up about her five-year relationship with the Playboy founder, declaring him "a monster."

"The things he got turned on by — nothing was enough. Nothing," the former Playmate revealed.

Theodore, who dated Hefner from 1976 to 1981, said their relationship was "like a fairytale" at first. "We were so in love," she admitted. But her story is similar to those of Hefner's other girlfriends who claim they were groomed and isolated.

"He cut me off from the world," Theodore recalled.

The model's relationship with Hefner coincided with when he decided to date multiple women at the same time and live the life that Playboy magazine represented. Theodore had to recruit young women for group sex with Hefner.

"I was told it was a party, it was getting together to have some fun," she tearfully said. "That was my way of pretending I really wasn't doing it."

Theodore, who previously claimed she was Hefner's "drug mule," admitted to doing cocaine in order to go along with what her boyfriend wanted her to do.

Perhaps one of the most startling moments of the night came when Theodore alleged she walked into a room only to find Hefner fondling their dog.

"He said, 'Dogs have needs,'" she recalled. "I never left him alone with a dog again... I could not believe what I was seeing."

Former "bunny mother" P.J. Masten shared a horrific story allegedly involving porn star Linda Lovelace. Masten said the Deep Throat star "was drunk and drugged" one night at the Playboy Mansion and performed a sexual act with a German Shepard dog. Theodore corroborated the disturbing tale claiming Hefner admitted it happened, telling her, "We all watched."

Theodore alleged that later in their relationship, Hefner brought men into the bedroom and directed her to have sex with them against her will.

"I felt so violated having a man that I did not want to be with forced up on me," she recalled. Her breaking point ultimately came when Hefner allegedly brought up snuff films, which is a video that purportedly shows actual homicide.

"What kind of mind is so far gone that it takes killing somebody to get them excited for that big release? He was opening my eyes to this monster. Really, he was a monster," Theodore declared. 

Although she got the courage to leave, she said she's affected daily by what transpired during her time at the Playboy Mansion.

"I lived a luxury life, yeah, but I paid dearly for it," she stated. "I will never know how to be a normal person."

Secrets of Playboy director Alexandra Dean told Yahoo Entertainment that Theodore was the hardest person to get to participate in the documentary, calling her the "main voice" of the series.

"The thing that shocked me the most is the depth of her scarring around what happened to her with Hef," Dean said. "It was so profound and that is what convinced me more than anything else that this was a much darker story than I had initially started to make. Just looking at Sondra, listening to Sondra, you could hear all those traces of trauma."

Dean, who spoke to former Playmates, Hefner's ex-girlfriends and mansion staff members, believes the height of his darkness was when he dated Theodore.

"I think it was the height of his drug use as well," she explained. "I think it unleashed things or at least it eradicated certain boundaries he might have had otherwise. The real Hef came roaring out... it's dark."

Dean added, "When we think about the mansion, it's kind of like Vegas. We think it's fun and cute, that anything that happens in the mansion stays at the mansion. But when you look at what you're really talking about, it's this voracious sex addict who had to keep experimenting and pushing the boundaries of experimentation. There's nothing fun and cute about that. It's brutal. It's terrifying. And there's more than a little bit misogyny embedded in there."

Playboy issued a statement ahead of the A&E series premiere last month.

"The Hefner family is no longer associated with Playboy, and today's Playboy is not Hugh Hefner's Playboy. We trust and validate these women and their stories and we strongly support those individuals who have come forward to share their experiences," a spokesperson told Yahoo. 

"As a brand with sex-positivity at its core, we believe safety, security and accountability are paramount. The most important thing we can do right now is actively listen and learn from their experiences. 

As an organization with a more than 80 percent female workforce, we are committed to confronting any parts of our legacy that do not reflect our values today, and continuing the progress we have made to evolve as a company so we can drive positive change for our employees and our communities."

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, help is available. RAINN's National Sexual Assault Hotline is here for survivors 24/7 with free, anonymous help. 800.656.HOPE (4673) and online.rainn.org.

Hugh Hefner's ex makes horrific new claims in 'Secrets of Playboy' (yahoo.com)

This is from my Mar. 2021 blog post:

"#MeToo movement becomes #WeToo in in victim-blaming Japan"/ "Outrage as women in Japan told not wear glasses in the workplace"

Aug. 17, 2020 Saying: I found this on Facebook:

"You never look good when you are trying to make someone else look bad."- Unknown

Cham: Sometimes people need to be exposed for who they are hahah or maybe I should stop being petty

Tracy Au: There's a difference between trying to make someone look bad, and exposing them for who they are. It's like those #MeToo accusers and victims, they are plainly telling everybody about the perpetrators. They're not trying to make them look bad.

Tracy's blog: "#MeToo movement becomes #WeToo in in victim-blaming Japan"/ "Outrage as women in Japan told not wear glasses in the workplace" (badcb.blogspot.com)