Since February this year, PJ Masten's Facebook inbox has been filled with death threats. "You're a piece of shit. You're a liar. You're a fuck this and fuck that,” she says, repeating some of the messages she's received.
Masten is no stranger to public attacks. In 2014, she alleged she had once been drugged and raped by Bill Cosby - a claim later echoed by dozens of women. But speaking out against the late nude-magazine founder Hugh Hefner has roused far more vitriol, Masten says. Not only for tarring the reputation of a beloved public figure, but for breaking ranks with a tight-knit community: Playboy itself.
"It's all from Bunnies," says Masten, referring to the waitresses whose uniforms at the once-famous Playboy Clubs paid homage to the company's mascot. “These are 85-year-old women running around with bunny ears on and I'm bursting their bubble. Being a Bunny was the best experience of my life. It was a great sorority of sisters. But the filth and language they're attacking me with? I'm frightened of these vicious women."
Masten, 71, is one of nearly 30 women who appear in Secrets of Playboy, a 10-episode docuseries that takes aim at the legacy of Hefner, who died in 2017. Since premiering in late January, the series has featured Hefner's former lovers, colleagues, and magazine centerfolds making damning allegations about Playboy and its creator. One former Playmate, Susie Krabacher, claims that Hefner raped her. Sondra Theodore, his girlfriend in the late 1970s, says: she witnessed Hefner masturbating his dog. She also claims he turned her into a "drug mule” who was forced to retrieve his cocaine. Numerous women say Hefner filmed all of the sex he had in his bedroom at the Playboy Mansion - often without consent and kept the tapes.
Denne historien er fra June 2022-utgaven av Marie Claire Australia.
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Denne historien er fra June 2022-utgaven av Marie Claire Australia.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
SHANNEN DOHERTY
The rebellious actor died in July after a nine-year battle with cancer. Zara Wong looks back at the legacy of a woman who always lived on her own terms
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ODE to LIGHT
Created by master perfumer Francis Kurkdjian in 2011, Elie Saab's Le Parfum has since gained a cult following and become an industry icon. Here, Sally Hunwick uncovers the origins of the stunning chypre floral scent
JEN ATKIN
The Ouai beauty guru is regularly called on by the Kardashians and a host of other A-listers. Here, she talks about hair, her beauty cupboard and how she keeps up her energy levels
A NEW DIRECTION
When she was 16, Jordan Lambropoulos told her surgeon she'd rather die than wake up with a colostomy bag. Today - 10 years, countless operations and 14,000 Instagram followers later - she's proof that a colostomy bag is not the end. In fact, it can be the beginning of a whole new life
LADY LUCK
Rosalía takes her accessories as seriously as she takes her art. The Spanish musician spent three years working on her much-lauded album Motomami, finessing the details and perfecting the finishing touches. And when it comes to her outfits, she's no less specific
Wait... superhero movies are cool now?
Who had Emma Corrin and Juno Temple as supervillians on their 2024 bingo card?
CURTAIN CALLING
Brisbane-born star Vidya Makan steps into the shoes of America's founding mother in the long-awaited return of Hamilton
LEIGH-ANNE
The English singer on colourism, freedom and reuniting Little Mix
