Crystal Harris, who was married to Playboy founder Hugh Hefner until his death in 2017, is asking Jessica Biel to reconsider playing a fictionalized version of Hefner’s wife in the upcoming “Playmates” movie.
After Biel’s casting was announced, Harris posted her message to Biel on Instagram, saying, “Please reconsider playing Hugh Hefner’s wife if this movie intends to romanticize him or the Playboy world. I was actually his wife and suffered sexual, emotional, financial and physical abuse in that relationship.”
Lorraine Nicholson, the daughter of Jack Nicholson, wrote and directed the film Searchlight which also stars Bill Pullman as Hefner as well as Lily-Rose Depp and “The HousemaidIndiana Elle.”
“Many other women have also come forward with allegations of rape, coercion, drugging and exploitation,” Harris wrote, “There are also deeply troubling concerns involving minors. I hope everyone involved in this film takes the time to listen to the women who lived through it before helping Hollywood turn it into nostalgia.”
After Hefner’s death, Harris revealed her experiences at the “toxic” Playboy mansion in her 2024 memoir “Only Say Good Things: Surviving Playboy and Finding Myself.”
According to the synopsis, the movie “Playmates” revolves around “Elle, a 13-year-old know-it-all who calls the Playboy Mansion her second home, and meets Anna (Depp), one of seven contestants vying to be Playmate of the Month. The two strike up an unlikely friendship and try to help each other get what the other wants most, a magazine cover and a boy.” Nicholson has written for magazines about her experiences childhood at the Playboy Mansion.
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