Contact: Kira Wagner, (323) 954-2516, kwagner@eentertainment.com
HUGH HEFNER- GIRLFRIENDS, WIVES AND CENTERFOLDS:
THE E! TRUE HOLLYWOOD STORY
PREMIERES ON E! ENTERTAINMENT TELEVISION
SUNDAY, APRIL 9 AT 8:00 PM ET/PT
Hef Sits Down with E! to Celebrate his 80th Birthday in this Special Two-Hour Episode
Featured Interviews with Hef Himself, Brother Keith Hefner, Daughter Christie Hefner,
Former Girlfriend Barbie Benton, Pam Anderson and
Current Girlfriends From “The Girls Next Door”
Los Angeles, March XX, 2006 – Hugh Hefner built a world-famous brand with fifty-three
successful years under its belt and more than six hundred sizzling centerfolds under its
covers, and became the most famous Playboy of the Western world. Hefner embarked
on a one-man crusade to provide the “gentler sex” with real exposure, and Playboy
magazine quickly became a cornerstone in the sexual revolution with its infamous
photos of nude centerfolds. He is the envy of most red-blooded American men, but his
relationships have not been perfect – instead they are peppered with betrayal, scandal
and loss. On April 9th, 2006 the ageless playboy will turn 80 and he will not celebrate his
birthday alone. He will celebrate it with the women who inspire him, the girlfriends,
wives and daughters who helped him make his dream a reality. This is the story of a
man who loved women and found out the feeling was mutual! Tune in to this two-hour
episode packed with exclusive interviews from friend Bill Maher, former Playmate
Pamela Anderson, former girlfriends, wives and “The Girls Next Door.” Hugh HefnerGirlfriends, Wives and Centerfolds: The E! True Hollywood Story premieres
Sunday, April 9 at 8:00 PM ET/PT. In this two-hour episode:
Playboy creator Hugh Hefner on the repression of women - “It is women who have had to pay the
price historically for our Puritan values. It is women who have been viewed as the daughters of
Eve. The source of original sin. And been expected to live in/ sexual roles that were always very
demeaning.”
Pamela Anderson on exploiting women - “I think he’s a great woman’s rights activist, I mean,
people think that Playboy exploits women. I think women exploit Playboy. Playboy helped me
tremendously. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for them. Now, here I am, the all American girl, I
don’t know how that worked. (laughs)”
Number one girlfriend Holly Madison on the lack of affection in Hefner’s childhood – “That left a
lot of longing in his life. And he was looking for kind of a more exciting -- more loving place.”
Brother Keith Hefner on Hugh’s first heartbreak - “Suddenly, from his point of view it was all over
and it just had a profound effect on him. If you know nothing about my brother, there's nothing
else you should know than that he's a very sensitive human being. It crushed him. It absolutely
crushed him. He came out of that a different person.”
Ex-Girlfriend Barbi Benton on Hefner’s idea to start his own magazine, “Stag Party” - “He was
working for Esquire Magazine when he asked for something like five dollars a week raise. They
wouldn’t give it to him. And he said, ‘I’m going to make my own magazine.’ They said, ‘yeah,
sure kid.’”
Hefner on the world famous Playboy logo - “Originally I was going to use a stag as the symbol. I
changed the symbol to a rabbit in a tuxedo. I thought that would be kind of sexy, frisky, playful,
and with a tuxedo sophisticated.”
Comedian Bill Maher on Hefner’s role as an activist - “The magazine was always out front and he
was, personally, on every social issue that is still out there today. Civil rights, women’s rights.
Birth control. Homo-sexuality. He’s not just a guy who spent his life in a bedroom having sex
with women. He did the work. He walked the walk.”
Madison on her sex life with Hefner - “Hef and I have sex all the time. People always want to
know. So I just lay it on the line -- lay it out there.”
Hefner on the appeal of Playboy – “What we were saying in a very simple, simplistic way was -nice girls like sex too. For the conservative nineteen fifties that was a truly revolutionary notion.
That’s one of the things that I think made the magazines and the feature so hugely popular.”
Hefner on naming daughter, Christie president of the Playboy empire - “The very notion that
Playboy, viewed as the last bastion of chauvinism in many places, would have a female president
was a revelation. And I took some pride in that.”
Christie Hefner on her father suffering a stroke in 1985 - “I flew to L.A. He wouldn’t see me for
several days, which was very hard. And then finally he wanted to see me. And I walked into his
bedroom and he was propped up, sitting up in bed. He’d actually looked fine. He was holding a
copy of TV Guide, and a red marker. And I walked in and I saw that he was holding it upside
down. And obviously he didn’t know he was holding it upside down. So it was very hard,
because he wanted me to think that he was better at that point than he was.”
Ex-wife Kimberly Conrad on the ultimatum she gave Hefner – “If you wanna have five girlfriends
that’s fine, but for me, I would never participate in such a thing. I mean, it’s just not for me. I can’t
-- I’m not one of many, I’m very possessive, I’m very territorial, I have a lot to offer.”
Conrad on how she tamed Hefner – “There was something beautiful, magical, and different with
us. I believe in my heart that we are soul mates.”
Executive Producer of “The Girls Next Door” Kevin Burns on Hefner’s troubled marriage with
Conrad - “I think she loved him a lot. But I think she wanted him to be different for her. He likes
his regimen. He likes his friends, he likes his soup at 5 o'clock, or 4:30. She admitted that to me
‘I fell in love with Hugh. Not Hef.’”
Hefner on the breakup of his second marriage - “I gave that marriage, uh, that relationship eight
and a half years. And was faithful to it. And worked very hard at it and when it didn’t work out, uh,
I came out of it a little emotionally beat up and bruised.”
Son Marston Hefner on his relationship with his father - “He goes to a lot of uh, basketball games
with us and stuff. It’s always a little like, uncomfortable because we have to go in a limo. But,
yeah, he’s like a normal dad where, where when we have problems then we can talk to him and
stuff.”
Hefner on his unconventional relationships - “It is a romantic relationship and not a promotional
stunt The only difference is that when we’re going out whatever we’re doing, we’re doing it
together. And it takes the hypocrisy out of it and the lies and the cheating out of it.”
Hefner on the Playboy legacy - “All of us want to leave some mark and say that in effect that we
were here. And I do think the magazine is a part of what that’s all about. Kind of giving myself
another life. Of living out that other fantasy life. Of creating a movie of your own life and once it
began, it took on a life of its own.”
About E! Networks
Based in Los Angeles, E! Networks is the world's largest producer and distributor of
entertainment news and lifestyle-related programming. The company operates E!
Entertainment Television, the 24-hour network with programming dedicated to the world
of entertainment, as well as The Style Network and E! Online located at
www.eonline.com. E! is currently available to 86 million cable and direct broadcast
satellite subscribers in the U.S. Style currently counts 42 million subscribers.
Internationally, E! programming can be seen in more than 120 countries worldwide
reaching 400 million homes. In addition to its ventures for locally programmed E!
branded channels outside the U.S., the company operates the E! International Network,
a 24-hour English language global entertainment channel available via satellite in
Europe, Africa, Asia Pacific and the Middle East.
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