Cooper and Marston Hefner, sons of the late Playboy magnate Hugh Hefner, dismissed an alarming claim from their father’s widow, Crystal Hefner, that his scrapbooks contain photos of underage girls.
The brothers, whose mother is Hefner’s second wife, Kimberley Conrad, said in a statement to HuffPost that they “have personally reviewed these materials extensively over many years, as have numerous historians, filmmakers, and journalists, including those who have both celebrated and critically examined his life’s work.”
“Over more than a quarter century of familiarity with these materials, we have never seen inappropriate images of minors, as has been suggested,” they said Wednesday. “The scrapbooks document decades of personal, professional, and family history. Our father lived much of his life publicly and assembled these materials as a historical record, with the intention that they ultimately be preserved and reviewed in full context, not hidden or concealed.”
“We believe claims of this magnitude should be supported by evidence and precision, not implication without proof,” they added. “We support the preservation of the scrapbooks in partnership with a university or museum, along with responsible public access consistent with his long standing wishes.”
