Hugh Hefner's widow urges actress to reconsider role in upcoming film

Crystal Harris, who was married to Hugh Hefner from 2012 until his death in 2017, posted a screenshot of an Instagram direct message she sent to actress Jessica Biel. In the message, Harris asked Biel to "reconsider" taking a role in the forthcoming movie Playmates if the project intends to romanticize Hefner or the Playboy brand. She wrote that she experienced sexual, emotional, financial and physical abuse during her marriage and referenced other women’s allegations of rape, coercion, drugging, exploitation and concerns involving minors. Harris added that she hopes the film’s creators will listen to the women who lived through those experiences before turning the story into nostalgia.

Biel is set to play a fictionalized version of a Playboy founder’s wife who was also a Playmate, not any of Hefner’s actual spouses. A spokesperson for Biel did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Playmates marks the directorial debut of Lorraine Nicholson, who also wrote the script. The film follows a 13-year-old who considers the Playboy Mansion a second home and forms a friendship with a woman aspiring to become Playmate of the Month. Bill Pullman has been cast as Hefner, and Lily-Rose Depp will portray the aspiring Playmate. Nicholson previously wrote about her childhood experiences at the mansion in a Vanity Fair essay, describing the environment as "safe and free."

Harris released a memoir in 2024 titled Only Say Good Things: Surviving Playboy and Finding Myself, in which she detailed her experiences of abuse and control within the Hefner relationship.