Hugh Hefner is once again back in the media spotlight. This time one of his many ex-girlfriends, Izabella St. James, penned a rather unflattering tell all memoir, ‘Bunny Tales’ a few years back of her days spent naked at the famed Playboy Mansion. She lived there starting in 2002, the same time that the original ‘Girls Next Door’ girls were there. Now, Hugh has decided to respond to some of the scandalous accusations listed in the book… pretty good stuff:
On the charge that he paid each his girlfriends, out of safe in his bedroom, $1,000 a week in cash: “That part is true. If you write it and make it sound sleazy, that’s easy to do. But the girls got a clothing allowance.”
On the claim that he imposed a strict 9 p.m. curfew, by which time all his girlfriends had to be at home or else: “That was also true—and widely publicized. It wasn’t a big secret.” Why the curfew? Hef laughs: “So they wouldn’t be running around on me!”
On St. James/Kasprzyk’s allegation that he handed out Quaaludes as aphrodisiacs: “If she was taking Quaaludes, she was taking them on her own. I wasn’t supplying drugs to the girls.”
On her account of Hef’s downing Viagra at a nightclub and then consulting his watch so he’d be ready with the girls when it finally kicked in: “The description of the Viagra thing is a fantasy that reflects an ignorance in terms of the use of Viagra. Once you take Viagra, you don’t have to be looking at a watch. Viagra takes about an hour to kick in, but lasts for about half a day… It simply permits normal sexual activity.”
On rumors that nobody was medically tested for safe sex: “Nobody in the group had sexually transmitted diseases. I was very careful and very concerned about taking care of everybody in terms of sexually transmitted disease. Absolutely there was testing. One of the things that can be pointed out is that over all the years of extensive sexual activity, nobody ever got pregnant, and nobody was having any serious problems with diseases. The only time anybody ever got pregnant in a relationship with me was the two times I was married.”
On the claim that he refused to wear a condom: “I think one of the ways that you resolve that problem is to have sex with people who don’t have sexually transmitted diseases.” That claim, in other words, appears to be true.
According to Hef, “her self-serving, clearly fabricated stories in the book give the impression that they are somehow reflective of former girlfriends. The reality is the opposite of that. My former girlfriends, as I’m sure you know, speak highly about the relationship with me, they speak with great love. One of the things that sets my relationships apart from many others is the fact that I have managed to remain close to many of my former girlfriends, including my former wives, because I’m a decent human being. And I treat women very well. I take pride in that.”
Hef argues that the book’s description of life at the mansion is wildly at odds with generally accepted reality. “The point is we’re not talking about some place in Transylvania—some place that nobody has visited,” Hef says.
All that I know is true… some of the best parties I have been to in LA were at the Playboy Mansion. Good Times!
