Hugh Hefner‘s widow doesn’t want Jessica Bielto play a role in thePlayboy universe.
Crystal Harris—who was married to Hefner for four years until his 2017 death at age 91—issued a plea to the 7th Heaven alum, who will reportedly play a fictional wife of the latePlayboy founder in the new movie Playmates.
“Please reconsider playing Hugh Hefner’s ‘wife’ if this film intends to romanticize him or thePlayboy world,” Harris wrote in an Instagram private message to Biel, which she publicly shared in an Oct. 8 post. “I was actually his wife, and I experienced sexual, emotional, financial and physical abuse in that relationship.”
The 40-year-old went on to point out that “many other women” have also shared their distressing experiences as a former Playmate in recent years.
“I hope everyone involved in this film takes the time to listen to the women who lived it,” she added, “before helping Hollywood turn it back into nostalgia.”
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Crystal Hefner Says Hugh Hefner Wanted Her to “Stay Skinny and Have Big Fake Boobs”
E! News has reached out to Biel’s rep but hasn’t received comment.
Harris—who is now married to businessman James Ward—has been candid about her past marriage to Hefner, alleging that it was “emotionally abusive” and “very restrictive.”
“When I was at the mansion, I didn’t know who I was,” she told E! News in 2024. “When you don’t know who you are, that could be dictated to you by somebody else and if that’s given to you by someone else, it could also be taken away. So, it’s very important for you to have your own power.”
And while Harris “loved and cared for” Hefner, she said she “was never truly in love with him.”
“It’s hard to be in love with someone who wants multiple people in the bedroom,” the former Playboy Playmate added, “and really only cares about themselves and their own needs and wants.”
Prior to Harris, Hefner was married to Mildred Williams from 1949 to 1959. The two shared kids daughter Christie Hefner, 73, and son David Hefner, 71.
The media mogul went on to tie the knot with Kimberley Conrad—with whom he shared kids Marston Hefner, 36, and Cooper Hefner, 35—in 1989, before separating 10 years later.
For more of Harris’ accounts of what went on inside the Playboy Mansion, read on.
