Featured Image Credit: Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Playboy
Topics: Celebrity, Hugh Hefner, Playboy
Anish Vij
Topics: Celebrity, Hugh Hefner, Playboy
Hugh Hefner's last wife claims the Playboy Bunnies were forced to follow a strict set of rules.
The Playboy founder, 91, passed away on 27 September 2017 after suffering a cardiac arrest at the famous Los Angeles mansion.
Crystal, his widow, married Hefner in 2012 and was by his side in the days prior to his death.
After first meeting each other at a Halloween party in 2008, the cover girl moved into the Playboy Mansion not long after, and they got engaged on Christmas Eve in 2010.
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Initially, Crystal decided to call it off just days before their wedding in 2011, until the couple reconciled and got married a year later on 31 December.
The now 39-year-old, who grew up in both England and California, has since released her bombshell memoir Only Say Good Things: Surviving Playboy and Finding Myself.
It included allegations of abuse against the businessman, and a series of strict 'rules' she claims models had to follow.
"Our nail polish couldn’t be anything but some neutral colour, no French manicure," she explained in an interview with People.
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Another revelation involved Crystal being told to bleach her hair the moment her roots would begin to show.
"I’d have to go bleach it and it would burn my scalp and I’d have blisters," she said, adding: "But for some reason I thought this was all normal and that’s what it meant to be seen as beautiful in Hef’s eyes."
In July, Crystal filed a petition in Los Angeles Superior Court to change her name from Crystal Margaret Hefner to Crystal Margaret Harris.
"I am a widow and reclaiming my maiden name," the former model said in the filing.
Taking to Instagram a month prior, Crystal opened up about why she wanted to change her name back.
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"To everyone I’ve had to block: I’m exhausted. If you’ve harassed me, you’re gone. I don’t owe anyone access to my peace," she wrote.
"But to those who are here with open hearts, who genuinely support my journey - thank you."
Crystal quit modelling after Hefner's death and is now engaged to James Ward, founder of Hawaii's SeeThroughSea and Epic Tours.
"It was about me. And now, I want my name back. Crystal Margaret Harris. Not because I’m ashamed of who I was - but because I finally know who I am," she added.
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While Crystal noted that the Hefner name made her 'eight figures' and allowed her to 'launch businesses', she insists it was never just 'about the name'.