Hugh Hefner’s Son Defends Playboy Mogul After Former Bunnies Call Mansion A Cult And Accuse Him Of Abuse

Hugh Hefner’s son, Cooper Hefner, has spoken out in support of his father after former Playboy Bunnies and others who spent time at the mansion over the years compared the house to a cult and accused Hefner of various forms of abuse. After A&E debuted its new tell-all docuseries Secrets of Playboy, the 30-year-old took to Twitter to hit back at what he describes as “salacious stories” about his father.

  1. Cooper described his father as “generous in nature.” While Cooper didn’t mention the A&E series by name, he did insist that Hugh Hefner was “not a liar” and that the victims and former acquaintances sharing their experiences with Hugh was simply a “case study of regret becoming revenge.”
  2. Hefner’s life was unconventional, Cooper admits. As he wrote on Twitter: “Some may not approve of the life my Dad chose, but my father was not a liar. However unconventional, he was sincere in his approach and lived honestly. He was generous in nature and cared deeply for people. These salacious stories are a case study of regret becoming revenge.”
  3. Of course, Cooper wasn’t actually around to know the truth. Given that he’s only 30 now and many of these alleged incidents will have taken place when he was a very young child and likely not around to witness them, he can’t really say what did or didn’t happen. It’s understandable that he wants to protect his father, but his kneejerk reaction doesn’t necessarily make it the truth.
  4. Playboy released their own statement after the first episode aired. However, instead of attempting to preserve Hefner’s legacy, they voiced support for his victims instead. “Today’s Playboy is not Hugh Hefner’s Playboy. We trust and validate these women and their stories and we strongly support those individuals who have come forward to share their experiences,” the magazine said.
  5. It’s always important to believe victims. Those who knew Hefner well, including Holly Madison, his former girlfriend Sondra Theodore, and porn star Linda Lovelace, shared stories of drug use, sexual abuse, manipulation, and even bestiality that went on at the mansion. They’ve all experienced trauma because of Hefner that left lasting effects on them even now. Those stories should be told and they deserve to be believed.

 

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Jennifer Still is a writer and editor with more than 10 years of experience. The managing editor of Bolde, she has bylines in Vanity Fair, Business Insider, The New York Times, Glamour, Bon Appetit, and many more. You can follow her on Twitter @jenniferlstill
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