Hugh Hefner’s widow says the Playboy founder’s private scrapbooks, which he once said numbered in the thousands and were collected over decades, shouldn’t be anyone’s public archive project. Crystal Hefner has asked the attorneys general of California and Illinois to investigate the Hugh M. Hefner Foundation, alleging it’s mishandling his personal scrapbooks that contain explicit images of women—including her—and, she fears, possibly minors. She says she was recently ousted as the foundation’s president after raising alarms about consent, security, and talk of digitizing the materials, according to the Hollywood Reporter. She says she had been asked to resign prior to her removal, but refused, CBS News reports. She believes the scrapbooks may contain 3,000 nude photos, TMZ reports.
In a statement delivered at attorney Gloria Allred’s office, Crystal Hefner said the scrapbooks date back to the 1960s and “may include images of girls who were underage at the time and could not consent to how their images would be retained or controlled,” or who may not have consented to having their photos taken at all. She said the scrapbooks contain intimate images, including pictures taken before or after sex, involving women who are now “mothers, grandmothers, professionals, and private citizens.” She says she worries that digital copying, AI tools, and data breaches could permanently expose them. Allred said Crystal is particularly concerned about potential images of underage girls and photos possibly taken when women were intoxicated and unable to give informed consent. The foundation did not immediately comment.