Crystal Hefner Tried To ESCAPE Playboy Mansion — But ‘Narcissist’ Hef Told Staff To ‘Detain Her’?!

January 19, 2024

Read Time:3 Minute

Hugh Hefner‘s widow Crystal Hefner is opening up even more about her complicated relationship with the Playboy tycoon.

In a new excerpt of her upcoming memoir, Only Say Good Things, the 37-year-old called her late husband a “power hungry narcissist” while recalling the moment she realized she was essentially being kept prisoner at the mansion! Yikes!

According to The US Sun on Thursday, Crystal — who admits she was never “in love” with the media mogul — made this shocking revelation after hearing Hef order his staff to “detain her”! Why? She tried to leave the house shortly after they got engaged on Christmas Eve in 2010. What??

As she recalled it, Hugh (who was 60 years older than her) essentially informed her they were going to get married — rather than ask — and she immediately had her doubts about the nuptials, mostly because she thought she was too young and was intimidated by his “deep need to control everything and everyone around him.” Calling Hef “power hungry and lonely,” she added:

“He was a narcissist. He only ever thought of himself.”

Prime example? Shortly after the engagement, she was told she’d be featured on the cover of Playboy magazine — making the whole marriage thing feel very transactional. This only continued when she was paid a measly $2,500 to be in a reality show about the wedding — when others were set to make BANK!

Around this time, she overheard her partner bragging to a producer about how the series would make them $800,000, and she rightfully asked for more money after — but the businessman totally gaslit her by making her feel like a gold-digger. He had the audacity to allegedly ask:

“What are you in this for?”

WTF! He was the one profiting off a marriage it sounds like she didn’t even really want!

Thankfully, Crystal had the wherewithal to see how messed up his reaction was, and it was then that she realized he and the Playboy org were going to “juice [her] like a lemon.” So, she made the bold decision to escape! Well, *try to* escape.

The model said she made a break for the security gate but could hear her soon-to-be-husband scream over the loudspeakers:

“Close the back gate! If Crystal tries to leave, detain her!”

Until then, she knew that she had to follow curfews (all the women had to be home by 9:30 p.m.), was kept to a strict schedule, and was expected to engage in “sex where consent was a given.” All problematic, but she still thought she had some say over her life. Now? She realized just how trapped she was — feeling like one of his prisoners. So sad.

As instructed, Hugh’s staff stopped her from leaving that day, but she started preparing to get herself outta there ASAP. To do so, Crystal started to save money from her allowance, storing it in a secret bank account. Of course, she still kept buying things she was “supposed to” so the publisher wouldn’t notice.

Eventually, after meeting Dr. Phil‘s son Jordan McGraw, she managed to escape the mansion and move in with him — leaving Hef with a canceled wedding and out $250K. Oh, and because the Playboy cover shoot had already happened, the July 2011 issue was still published with the headline, “America’s Princess — Introducing Mrs. Crystal Hefner!”

Oof! Awkward!

Hugh — incredibly embarrassed by this — added hundreds of thousands of red stickers on top of the picture of her, reading, “RUNAWAY BRIDE IN THIS ISSUE!”

And yet, after everything she went through to break away from him, Crystal’s life outside the mansion didn’t go as planned and she wound up marrying Hugh anyway on NYE in 2012. Whoa.

We’re sure she has a lot more tea to spill! The full book will be out on Tuesday. In the meantime, thoughts? Share them (below)!

[Image via Rachel Worth/FayesVision/WENN]

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