LOS ANGELES — Hugh Hefner’s Widow Asks Jessica Biel to Reconsider Role in ‘Playmates’
Crystal Harris, widow of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, appealed to Jessica Biel on Thursday to reconsider her role in the upcoming film Playmates, which centers on life at the Playboy Mansion.
Biel’s casting as a fictionalized version of Hefner’s wife was announced earlier this week. Harris, who has spoken publicly about her alleged experiences of abuse inside the mansion, urged the actress to avoid portraying that world in a romanticized way.
“Please reconsider playing Hugh Hefner’s ‘wife’ if this film intends to romanticize him or the Playboy world,” Harris wrote in an Instagram post. “I was actually his wife, and I experienced sexual, emotional, financial and physical abuse in that relationship. Many other women have come forward with allegations of rape, coercion, drugging and exploitation as well. There are also deeply troubling concerns involving minors.”
She added, “I hope everyone involved in this film takes the time to listen to the women who have lived it before helping Hollywood turn it back into nostalgia.”
Harris was 26 when she married Hefner, who was 86 at the time. Their marriage lasted five years, ending with his death in 2017. Since then, she has spoken about her experiences, describing herself as having been “absolutely brainwashed.”
“Hef was old enough to be my grandfather,” Harris said on the “No One Asked Her” podcast last month. “We [had a] 60-years difference. In the interviews I’d say, ‘Oh, you know, he’s like a kid! He likes to have fun’ … Why did I say that?”
Harris previously appeared on the reality series “The Girls Next Door,” which offered a glimpse into life inside the Playboy Mansion. In 2024, she published her memoir, “Only Say Good Things: Surviving Playboy and Finding Myself,” detailing her experiences at the mansion and her difficult relationship with Hefner.
Biel is set to appear alongside previously announced cast members Lily-Rose Depp, Bill Pullman and Indiana Elle in Playmates. Lorraine Nicholson will write and direct the film, marking her feature directorial debut.
The comedy-drama draws loosely from Nicholson’s childhood experiences visiting the Playboy Mansion. Nicholson is the daughter of actor Jack Nicholson.
According to the film’s official logline, “Elle (Elle), a 13-year-old know-it-all who considers the Playboy Mansion her second home, meets Anna (Depp), one of seven hopefuls vying to be Playmate of the Month. The two form an unlikely friendship and try to help each other get what the other wants most, a magazine cover and a boy.”
Biel, known for her role in “7th Heaven,” will portray Hefner’s wife, played by Pullman, in the film. Her character is a former Playmate. Although Hefner was married three times in real life, the wife Biel will portray is fictional.
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