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Crystal Hefner says she destroyed ‘thousands’ of photos after Holly Madison reveals she feared Hugh Hefner’s ‘mountain of revenge porn’

Crystal Hefner was married to Hugh Hefner from 2012 until his death in 2017

Clémence Michallon

New York City

Friday 28 January 2022 09:59 EST

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Secrets of Playboy trailer

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Crystal Hefner, who was once married to Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, says she found and subsequently destroyed “thousands” of photos of “countless” women.

She made the revelation on Monday (24 January) in a tweet directed to Holly Madison, a former resident of the Playboy mansion who was Hugh Hefner’s “main girlfriend” in the 2000s.

Crystal Hefner sent the message the same day a documentary aired in which Madison said she used to be afraid of leaving the mansion because she feared a “mountain of revenge porn” would come out if she did.

“I found thousands of those disposable camera photos you are talking about @hollymadison,” Crystal Hefner wrote in her tweet to Madison. “I immediately ripped them up and destroyed every single one of them for you and the countless other women in them. They're gone.”

Crystal Hefner and Hugh Hefner at a Playboy luncheon on 9 May 2013 at the Playboy mansion in Holmby Hills, California — Crystal Hefner and Hugh Hefner at a Playboy luncheon on 9 May 2013 at the Playboy mansion in Holmby Hills, California (Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Playboy)

Madison shared Crystal Hefner’s tweet and thanked her.

Crystal Hefner was married to Hugh Hefner from 2012 until his death at the age of 91 in 2017.

Madison is one of the participants interviewed in Secrets of Playboy, a new A&E documentary exploring Hugh Hefner’s life and the culture he created as the founder of the magazine.

“When I lived at the mansion, I was afraid to leave,” she says in the docuseries. “Something that was always lingering at the back of my mind, I think since the very beginning, was that if I left there was this mountain of revenge porn waiting to come out.”

Ahead of the documentary’s release, the PLBY Group, the company behind the magazine and its related properties, issued an open letter seeking to separate the current Playboy magazine from Hugh Hefner.

“We trust and validate women and their stories, and we strongly support the individuals who have come forward to share their experiences,” the letter reads in part. “As a brand with sex positivity at its core, we believe safety, security and accountability are paramount, and anything less is inexcusable.”

It adds: “As you know, the Hefner family is no longer associated with Playboy, and today’s Playboy is not Hugh Hefner’s Playboy.”

Secrets of Playboy airs on Mondays at 9pm ET/PT. Two episodes aired on Monday (24 January), and an additional episode will air every week until the finale on 21 March. The docuseries is also available on demand and to stream on the A&E app and aetv.com.