Hefner widow asks Jessica Biel to reconsider Playmates role

Hugh Hefner's widow has asked Jessica Biel to reconsider playing a fictionalised version of Hefner's wife in the Searchlight film "Playmates".

Crystal Harris addressed Biel in a message posted on Instagram, after Biel's casting was announced, according to Variety. Harris was married to Hefner, the founder of Playboy, until his death in 2017.

In the post, Harris said she lived through sexual, emotional, financial and physical abuse in her relationship with Hefner. She asked Biel to reconsider taking the part if the film intends to romanticise Hefner or the world around Playboy.

Harris also wrote that many other women have come forward with allegations of rape, coercion, drugging and exploitation linked to Hefner and Playboy. Those accounts, in her words, describe a pattern she does not want softened on screen.

Harris set out her own experiences in the 2024 memoir "Only Say Good Things: Surviving Playboy and Finding Myself", which centres on her time at the Playboy mansion. Her message to Biel draws directly on that history.

Biel joined the cast as Hefner's wife, a former Playmate, meaning a model who appeared in Playboy magazine, according to Variety. Her casting was reported on 7 October, two days before Harris's message was reported.

"Playmates" is written and directed by Lorraine Nicholson, the daughter of Jack Nicholson. Bill Pullman plays Hefner. Lily-Rose Depp also stars.

No response from Biel or the film-makers has been reported. The film remains in development at Searchlight, the studio behind the project.