Tb6 Late Night Movie Playboy
Veronica Donkin
Hef was very charming, warmly chit chatted and discussed his love for Hollywood movies, told us to enjoy the popcorn, food, and drinks, and asked us to sign the guest book. He was also slightly creepy, continually scanning my face and body like he was rating my worth as a trophy date material. I felt strangely self-conscious as I was scanned, marveling at the moment, wondering if I made the cut. It reminded me of getting the up and down fashion scan by Vogue editor Anna Winter in the elevator at Conde Nast.
For Halloween, 2022, I noticed that the infamous \u201CPlayboy bunny costume\u201D was still being sold as a Halloween costume, the \u201Cofficial\u201D version for $125.00. The bunny costume is still a bestseller, despite the January, 2022 Secrets of The Playboy Mansion documentary that outed the \u201CMansion\u201D as a place for Hef and his creepy guy friends to sexually exploit barely legal women who hoped posing for Playboy would make them famous.
Ex-Playboy bunny Holly Madison said \u201CThe mansion was like a cult,\u201D and that she had \u201CStockholm Syndrome\u201D after being \u201Clove bombed\u201D by Hef. She said that she and the girls living at the Mansion were regularly given Quaaludes, also known as \u201Cleg spreaders\u201D or \u201Cthigh openers,\u201D so that the girls could \u201Crelax\u201D and have sex with someone old enough to be their grandfather.
The 2017 docuseries American Playboy, which chronicles \u201CPlayboy magazine\u2019s charismatic founder,\u201D describes him as \u201Cat the forefront of the sexual revolution and advocate for sexual freedom.\u201D Yeah, for creepy dudes. It seems worlds apart from the 2022 docuseries, which chronicles the extreme sexism of Playboy, and the sexual abuses of his \u201Cpets.\u201D In American Playboy, Hefner is portrayed as promoting men as \u201Cgentlemen\u201D who lives \u201Cthe Playboy lifestyle.\u201D
In 1999 and again in 2002, when I started writing for Playboy magazine, I attended two parties at the mansion, in the Holmby Hills neighborhood near Beverly Hills. The two parties gave me a short glimpse into the weird and highly sexualized world of Playboy. Most of the women at the parties were 18-22, and most of the men, Hef\u2019s friends, were in their 70\u2019s and 80\u2019s. At the time, I was \u201Cover 25,\u201D which made me the oldest \u201Cgirl\u201D in the room. At the least I was considered a MILF, but in Playboy years, I was ancient.
Once a month on Sunday nights was \u201Cmovie night\u201D at the mansion where Hef would score a first run movie from the studios (in 35MM), and screen it for about 50 of his friends. The year was 1999, and the night I went I was invited as someone\u2019s date. He was 25 years older than I was, and was Hef\u2019s straight, swinging single hairdresser. He picked me up in a vintage Mercedes Roadster convertible, (that ruined my hair-do after I spent 2 hours doing my hair), and said he forgot something at his house in Beverly Hills, so we went there first. He had tons of posters of Shampoo with Warren Beatty in the house, and claimed that the character was based on him, not John Peters. And so the weirdest date ever began.
I chose to go to my \u201Cmansion date\u201D because I was curious to see the house of Playboys and Playmates from an incognito, \u201Cinsider\u2019s\u201D viewpoint, and see if someone associated with the \u201Csexual liberation\u201D movement lived up to his legendary reputation as a \u201Cfighter for sexual freedom.\u201D
Two years prior, in 1997, my publicist from Random House got a call from Playboy asking if I would like to pose for them. I turned them and the $15,000 down, because, well, I had a great book deal, and even my male agents at William Morris thought it was a tacky career move. I was already getting \u201Cslut shamed\u201D at the time for writing an early sex column about my own sex and dating life at Gen X\u2019r Details magazine, and I thought posing naked would ruin my feminist writer cred.
Driving up to the gated mansion past the \u201CPlaymates at Play\u201D sign, we announced ourselves to the intercom, were buzzed in, and our car valeted. Hugh Hefner stood at the door in scarlet silk pajamas, shook my hand, and greeted me with \u201CHello, I\u2019m Hef, welcome to my home.\u201D He also surveyed me from head to toe, evaluating my \u201Ctalent.\u201D
The movie that night was Entrapment, starring Catherine Zeta Jones, who was 29 at the time, playing the love interest of Sean Connery, who was 69. My date proudly introduced me to all of the men there, but not one of them asked what I did for a living, unlike New York City, where it\u2019s the first thing people ask you. (At the time, I was going on late night talk shows like Conan promoting my books, had a TV deal with MTV, and had sold a screenplay to Paramount Pictures.) But the men at the mansion he introduced to me all seemed to be whispering about me. I tried to make out what they were saying, when I heard one of them say to him: \u201CHey, your date is nice. How much did you have to pay for her?\u201D Another one asked \u201CWhere did you get her?\u201D It was the moment I realized everyone there thought I was a prostitute.
A series of late-night tweets in which a Texas lawmaker promised to support tightened legislation on vaccines and referenced "playboy bunnies" has drawn the ire of a political action committee that supports loosening vaccine laws.
Texans For Vaccine Choice, whose website says it promotes "preservation of personal liberties," issued a statement Friday afternoon following the tweets by Rep. Jason Villalba, R-Dallas. In the tweets, Villalba promised to support new vaccine legislation and said he was tired of "playboy bunnies and [Rep. Jonathan Stickland, R-Bedford] acting as doctors when our children's lives are at stake."
The "playboy bunnies" apparently refers to Jenny McCarthy, an actress and former Playboy model who has supported the idea that vaccines cause autism, a claim that has been repeatedly debunked. Stickland has supported leaving "medical decisions to parents instead of the government."
Villalba proposed legislation in the last legislative session that would have narrowed exemptions in the state's vaccine requirements. Nearly one percent, or 38,000 Texas students, received non-medical exemptions from vaccines during the 2013-2014 school year. In 2004, just 3,000 Texas students received exemptions.
At these legendary spots, after-hours thrill seekers will have no problem catching live music, enjoying generous cocktails, hobnobbing with eclectic crowds, savouring scrumptious late-night eats, and in some cases, learning a bit of local history.
This extensive guide, is great not only for visiting tourists keen to get the best experience possible from their night out, but also for any locals who may have missed a hidden night treasure in their state.
After weeks of interviews following the killing of our owner Roger Wheeler, things began to settle down. I tried to do my job of promoting Miami Jai-Alai with the local news media, deflecting questions about the unsolved murder. We had no answers. Nor did the Tulsa Police or the FBI.
I was still trying to develop a relationship with those friendly to our sport. Most of the South Florida press liked Jai-Alai. Many loved the horses. Maybe the common denominator was that most just liked to gamble.
In late 1981, the WPLG (Channel 10) sports director Chuck Dowdle suggested we take a ski trip to Banff, Canada. Chuck was one of the top sportscasters in South Florida having moved down from WSB in Atlanta. He was an past Georgia basketball star, extremely personable, and was quickly becoming a good friend. I went to my boss and asked for a week off to make the trip. Donovan and Rico thought it was a great idea and gave me the go-ahead.
I decided to invite my brother Sol and wife Sandra along, knowing they would enjoy the entire adventure. Sol was one of the top architects in Tampa. His wife Sandra is a double for Elaine in Seinfeld. I knew Chuck and Clarice would love hanging out with them. The only problem, they were not much into skiing.
Eddie K was one of the most interesting characters I had ever met. Here was a guy that gave up a lucrative law career to do something he always loved, talking sports. A graduate from Michigan and an ex-prosecutor, Ed used his prosecutorial skills and his love of sports (and gambling) to field the many calls from the nuts of late-night talk radio. And Eddie K loved Jai-Alai!
So, things were progressing nicely. Summer Jai-Alai was doing as well as our normal winter season. I was coordinating the state-wide Jai-Alai tournaments which generated enormous fan interest. And interesting perks came with the job in Miami.
Later that week, I met the photographer and Connie Brighton, the Playmate. Trying to remain cool, (and remembering I was newly married), we discussed the photo shoot. They suggested having Connie wear a Miami jersey and helmet, surrounded by Jai-Alai players, staging the scene on the court.
Since we were doing the photography during the day, I decided Kevin Koffman, my assistant and I would dress up like players and be in the scene. After all, the actual players needed their rest from playing the night before. So, I thought it best to let them sleep. This was my chance to be in Playboy.. fully clothed, of course.
I found that there was never a dull moment living in Miami. The future would reveal shooting movies and meeting celebrities. I would coordinate one of the most memorable episodes on the top network television series, Miami Vice.
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