The Hefner family is responding to claims made by Crystal Harris, the late Hugh Hefner’s widow. She alleges that he left behind thousands of scrapbooks containing inappropriate and possibly unlawful photographs.
On Tuesday, Harris, accompanied by prominent lawyer Gloria Allred, revealed she had filed legal requests to examine scrapbooks belonging to her late husband. She fears the scrapbooks contain unauthorized photos of nude women, and potentially images of minors.
Hugh Hefner’s sons, Marston, 35, and Cooper, 34, responded to accusations from Harris, telling the Daily Mail they had never found any concerning photos of children in their father’s personal collections.
As a lifestyle expert, I’ve been following the recent conversation around my father, Hugh Hefner, and his personal scrapbooks. My siblings and I want to share that we’ve spent years carefully looking through these materials ourselves. It’s also worth noting that many historians, documentary filmmakers, and journalists – people who’ve approached his life and work from all angles – have also had the chance to review them extensively.
After reviewing these materials for over 25 years, we’ve never found any inappropriate images of children, despite recent claims. The scrapbooks simply contain records of personal experiences, work, and family life over many decades.
My father lived a very public life and carefully gathered these documents as a historical archive. He wanted them to be fully preserved and understood in their original context, not kept secret.
We think serious accusations require solid evidence and clear details, not just hints or assumptions. We favor keeping the scrapbooks safe, ideally with a university or museum, and allowing the public to view them in a way that respects the owner’s original intentions.
During a surprising press conference on Tuesday, Harris, along with her lawyer Gloria Allred, revealed that around 3,000 scrapbooks owned by the founder of Playboy include ‘naked and sexually explicit pictures’ of women.
Harris is concerned that the women in the photos might have been drunk when they were taken, meaning they couldn’t have given full consent. He’s also worried some of them may have been too young to participate.
In a statement, Harris clarified he wasn’t talking about photos published in magazines. He explained that his concern was with private, personal moments documented in Hugh Hefner’s scrapbooks – moments that happened privately, not publicly.
As a lifestyle expert focused on well-being and ethical considerations, I’ve been following a troubling situation regarding a collection of photographs. My concern, and the concern of many, is that these images, dating back to the 1960s, potentially include pictures of girls who were minors when taken. This raises serious questions about consent and how those images were handled and stored, and it’s something we absolutely need to address. It’s deeply concerning that individuals may have been photographed without the ability to make informed choices about their own images.
These scrapbooks might also feature pictures of women who never agreed to have their photos taken. They include nude photos, images taken during or after sexual encounters, and other very private moments.
She explained that this wasn’t a record of history, but rather the process of turning women’s personal lives into things to be studied and categorized.
The scrapbooks are reportedly stored in California, but Harris says she was informed that some might be at a private home to be scanned and converted into digital copies.
She expressed serious concern about the potential for these images to become public. With technologies like AI, deepfakes, digital scanning, and the risk of data breaches, once images are released from secure storage, the damage they could cause is permanent. Even a single security lapse could have a devastating impact on many people.
Harris says she was pressured to leave her position on the Hugh M. Hefner Foundation’s board after she spoke up about the problematic images.
Despite my refusal to resign, I was fired yesterday as CEO and President of the Foundation. This decision came after I raised concerns about how private photos in the scrapbooks were being handled.
Okay, so I’ve been following this whole thing, and it’s INSANE. Apparently, Harris has officially complained to the top lawyers in California and Illinois! He’s demanding they investigate how these images are being treated and where they’re even being kept. Honestly, it’s about time someone did something – I’ve been so worried about all of this, and I’m glad he’s taking it seriously!
Harris emphasized that this case isn’t about financial gain, but about respect, security, and stopping the spread of private, intimate images taken without consent. She wants to ensure that exploitation doesn’t continue, even when disguised as charitable work, and believes this issue impacts thousands of women.
Beyond the extensive scrapbook collection, the foundation also holds Hefner’s private diary. According to Allred, this diary details intimate aspects of his life, including sexual encounters with specific women, descriptions of those encounters, and, in some cases, even details about their menstrual cycles.
Harris famously wed the Playboy founder in 2012 when she was 26 and he was 86.
They remained married until his passing in 2017 at the age of 91. He died from heart failure and a severe infection caused by a dangerous type of E. coli, leaving behind an estate estimated at $43 million.
Harris is a real estate agent who has been involved in a long-running dispute with her deceased husband’s family.
In 2024, Kim Harris released her revealing memoir, Only Say Good Things: Surviving Playboy And Finding Myself, where she made shocking revelations about her marriage to the founder of Playboy. She admitted she never loved him and described feeling trapped during their four years together.
She later had a very public disagreement with his sons, Cooper and Marston. Marston went as far as to accuse Harris of being controlling and manipulative.
In a 2024 interview on Holly Madison’s podcast, Girls Next Level, Marston alleged that his stepmother was driven by a desire for control and altered his father’s will while he was vulnerable.
Madison, he explained that when Crystal arrived at the mansion, groups began to form, with people choosing sides and aligning themselves with Crystal.
He explained that Harris developed an obsession with being in charge and deciding who was allowed into the notorious mansion.
He explained that she enjoyed having power over who was invited to parties. She’d add or remove guests based on her changing moods, and she relished being the gatekeeper – people had to go through her to get anything done.
Marston claimed Crystal may have altered his father’s will during a period of illness and heavy medication.
He said that in the year he died, he updated his will to leave a larger share of his estate to me, another individual, and Crystal.
‘And I don’t know how much more, I don’t remember if Crystal got more than us,’ he continued.
I was thinking about that while dealing with the inheritance, and I wondered why he would change his will. It didn’t make sense, considering he often didn’t know what was going on.
I emailed everyone, asking if they agreed that he wasn’t performing well anymore. But no one wanted to talk about what I saw as an obvious problem.
After Marston made his statements, Harris told Us Weekly that he believes Marston is still dealing with unresolved pain and emotional issues related to his relationship with his father.
He seems to be searching for healing or closure regarding things he’s starting to accept may never be fully understood. It’s possible he’s creating his own answers to fill those gaps.
Crystal firmly refuted Marston’s accusations that she had secretly given Hugh medication and that she had brought uninvited guests to his funeral.
‘I was married to him. I was closest to Hef,’ she insisted.
Harris criticized Madison, who was dating Hefner, and her colleague Bridget Marquardt, claiming they were attempting to undermine her.
‘If I have a problem with someone, I’ll go to the person and talk to them. Obviously they just want attention,’ she sniffed.
I was really shocked to see Harris going after Cooper Hefner, even him! Last year, he actually called Cooper a ‘narcissist’ on Instagram – it just felt like a really unnecessary attack, honestly.
She wrote that Hugh Hefner didn’t seem to enjoy spending time with his children, often admitting he wasn’t a good father and dismissing them when they tried to speak with him.
Harris refuted claims that she took inheritance money intended for the Hefner family, but acknowledged receiving the $5 million Hollywood Hills house that Hugh Hefner had purchased for her while they were married.
Playboy magazine was officially re-launched last year after a five-year hiatus.
After Hugh Hefner’s passing in 2019, the famous magazine underwent a significant change. New editors decided to move away from its history of featuring nude models and instead began showcasing a more diverse range of people, including activists, feminists, men, and transgender models.
The magazine’s attempt to modernize its image failed badly and caused a temporary decline in readership, but it recently made a strong comeback.
I was so thrilled to see the magazine relaunch with everything I loved about it originally! They brought back the Playmates – the full pictorials were always a highlight – and the exciting celebrity interviews. But best of all, they’re doing that fearless, groundbreaking journalism the magazine was famous for back in its prime. It feels like the good old days are back!
Lori Harvey, daughter of Steve Harvey, appeared on the magazine’s cover. Meanwhile, model Gillian Nation celebrated her title as Playmate of the Year with a nude photoshoot for the magazine’s centerfold.
The November issue includes twelve new Playmate photo spreads, plus rare photos of Jane Birkin – one of which appears on the cover.
Read More
- MLBB x KOF Encore 2026: List of bingo patterns
- eFootball 2026 Jürgen Klopp Manager Guide: Best formations, instructions, and tactics
- Overwatch Domina counters
- Brawl Stars Brawlentines Community Event: Brawler Dates, Community goals, Voting, Rewards, and more
- eFootball 2026 Starter Set Gabriel Batistuta pack review
- Honkai: Star Rail Version 4.0 Phase One Character Banners: Who should you pull
- Gold Rate Forecast
- 1xBet declared bankrupt in Dutch court
- Lana Del Rey and swamp-guide husband Jeremy Dufrene are mobbed by fans as they leave their New York hotel after Fashion Week appearance
- Clash of Clans March 2026 update is bringing a new Hero, Village Helper, major changes to Gold Pass, and more
2026-02-19 23:28