Holly Madison has thrown her support behind the upcoming film Playmates, entering a growing debate over how Hollywood should portray the late Playboy founder Hugh Hefner and the world surrounding his famous mansion.
The 46-year-old, who dated Hefner from 2001 to 2008, said she was looking forward to the film and praised its writer and director, Lorraine Nicholson, after Hefner’s widow, Crystal Harris, publicly urged actress Jessica Biel to reconsider her involvement.
Speaking to TMZ, Madison described Nicholson as a “wonderful writer” and said she believed in keeping an open mind when people shared their experiences — the same consideration she said others had shown when listening to her own accounts of life at the Playboy Mansion.
“I love Lily-Rose Depp, too. I can’t wait to see it,” Madison added.
Crystal Harris raises concerns over how Playboy will be portrayed
Madison’s comments came after Harris publicly appealed to Biel, who is set to portray a fictionalised wife of Hefner in the film.
Harris, who married Hefner in 2012 and remained his wife until his death in 2017, warned against a portrayal that might romanticise the Playboy world.
In a message to Biel that she shared publicly, Harris described experiencing sexual, emotional, financial and physical abuse during her marriage. She also referred to allegations made by other women and raised concerns about exploitation and the treatment of minors.
Harris urged those involved in the production to listen to women who had lived through that environment before presenting it through a nostalgic Hollywood lens.
Her remarks have brought renewed attention to the tension between creative freedom and the responsibility to represent the experiences of people connected to a controversial public figure.
The allegations are Harris’s account of her experience and should be distinguished from any independently established findings about the film or its production.
What is the film Playmates about?
The upcoming coming-of-age film centres on a 13-year-old girl named Elle, who considers the Playboy Mansion a second home.
There, she meets Anna, an aspiring Playmate played by Lily-Rose Depp. The two develop an unlikely friendship as Anna pursues her ambition of becoming Playmate of the Month, while attempting to help Elle find a boyfriend.
Nicholson, the daughter of actor Jack Nicholson and Rebecca Broussard, has reportedly drawn on aspects of her own experiences growing up around Hollywood and the Playboy Mansion.
The film marks her feature directorial debut.
Biel’s character is fictional, rather than a direct portrayal of one of Hefner’s actual wives, according to reports about the project.
Holly Madison says she wants to keep an open mind
Madison’s response reflects her position that people should have room to tell their own stories, even when those accounts involve a complicated and disputed past.
Her support does not resolve the concerns raised by Harris, but it adds another perspective to the discussion surrounding the film.
Hefner, who founded Playboy magazine and became a prominent figure in American popular culture, died in September 2017 at the age of 91.
In the years since his death, former partners and associates have shared differing accounts of life at the mansion, prompting wider discussion about power, consent and the image cultivated around the Playboy brand.
With Playmates drawing attention before its release, the central question is not simply how the film depicts a famous era, but whose experiences and perspectives will shape the story audiences ultimately see.
