Shanna Moakler Shares Her Experience with Hugh Hefner: ‘It Wasn’t My Experience’
Shanna Moakler, the actress and model, recently opened up about her time spent around Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, reflecting on her personal experiences and the serious accusations that have surfaced against him posthumously. Hefner, who passed away on September 27, 2017, at the age of 91 due to sepsis caused by an E. coli infection, has been accused of rape by several women in the A&E docuseries “Secrets of Playboy.”
The docuseries presents firsthand accounts of alleged rapes by Hefner, including the harrowing story of a Playmate of the Year who was reportedly “brutalized” and “psychically destroyed” by the mogul. Despite these grave allegations, Moakler maintains that her own experiences with Hefner were different.
“I’ll never take away from any woman’s story or experience,” Moakler told PEOPLE. “But it wasn’t my experience.” She emphasized the importance of honoring and listening to the stories of those who have come forward. “If someone is saying that this is what they experienced, I’m going to honor them and listen to them and hear them,” she said.
Moakler recounted her initial interactions with Hefner, noting that he had approached her to be one of his girlfriends. “He approached me to be a girlfriend. I was like, ‘You’re a little too old for me,'” she recalled. Despite her initial reservations, she eventually grew fond of Hefner, although she described the environment as a “rotating circus” of girlfriends.
Reflecting on her time at the Playboy Mansion, Moakler stated that she was not aware of any wrongdoing. “I think at this point in time, obviously it’s someone’s story and it’s someone’s life experience, and they need to talk about it, especially if it’s dealing with trauma,” she said. She also pointed out that Hefner is no longer alive to defend himself. “The man is dead. He can’t defend himself. He can’t,” she added.
Hefner’s ex-girlfriend Holly Madison has been vocal about her own traumatic experiences with him. In her book “Down the Rabbit Hole,” Madison detailed the emotional and psychological toll of her relationship with Hefner. She also shared her lack of emotional attachment to him at the time of his death. “When he passed away, everybody expected me to have some big reaction or post about it on social media, and it just felt weird. I didn’t have any emotional attachment to him anymore in any way,” Madison said.
Madison has also spoken about her first night at the Playboy Mansion, describing it as a traumatic experience. During an appearance on the “Power: Hugh Hefner” podcast, she revealed that Hefner took sexually explicit photos of intoxicated women without their consent. “When girls would go out with Hef, in the limo, in the nightclub and come back to his room after, he was constantly taking photos of these women on his disposable camera,” she said. Madison explained that these women were often heavily intoxicated and unaware that their photos were being taken.
Madison likened Hefner’s actions to revenge porn, noting that the photos were not consensual. “I don’t know if he just assumed that was okay because all these women want to be in the magazine so bad so they must be okay with getting naked,” she said. Madison confronted Hefner about the photos after some were posted online, but his response was to blame her for “narcing” on the woman who posted them, leading to further conflict.
Kendra Wilkinson, another of Hefner’s ex-girlfriends, also shared her perspective on his death. She admitted to smoking a lot of weed the night Hefner died and expressed that she felt no obligation to protect his legacy. “Look, at the end of the day, I owe Hef nothing,” Wilkinson said. “I’m not going to sit here and protect him. Hugh Hefner decided to date millions of girls, right? That’s not my responsibility.”
Moakler’s reflections on her time with Hefner provide a contrasting perspective to the allegations presented in “Secrets of Playboy.” While she acknowledges the importance of listening to and honoring the stories of those who have come forward, she maintains that her own experiences with Hefner were different. “It wasn’t my experience,” she reiterated.
As the conversation around Hefner’s legacy continues, it is clear that the experiences of those who knew him vary widely. Moakler’s willingness to listen to and honor the stories of others, despite her own differing experiences, underscores the complexity of the situation and the importance of giving voice to those who have been affected.
Source: PEOPLE, A&E, “Secrets of Playboy” docuseries
