Crystal Hefner, the widow of late Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, is sounding the alarm on thousands of his personal scrapbooks becoming public.
In a statement through her lawyer, Gloria Allred, Hefner revealed that she had filed regulatory complaints with both the Attorneys General of California and Illinois over a foundation in her husband's name, choosing to release the scrapbooks, which contain intimate images of scads of women, including herself.
Allred slammed the choice to make public "approximately 3,000 personal scrapbooks containing thousands of nude images of women, as well as Hefner's diary containing highly personal information regarding his sexual exploits, including names of women he slept with, notes describing the sex acts they performed, and in some instances, even information tracking women's menstrual cycles."
Hefner, a magazine magnate and businessman, made womanizing his brand with the launch of Playboy in the early 1950s. He wed Crystal, his third wife, in 2012. Heralded by some as a pioneer in sexual politics, his contributions have been derided by others as misogynistic and promoting a culture of abuse.
"It is our honor to represent Crystal Hefner, who is not only Hugh Hefner's widow, but she is also a brilliant and outspoken advocate for women's rights," Allred wrote in a statement. "Crystal did not consent to having her intimate images stored by and accessible to the Foundation, and we believe that many of the other women and/or girls depicted did not consent either."
