Secrets of Playboy is tearing apart Playboy alumni

Los Angeles Times

PJ Masten, one of 30 Playboy alums to participate in the 10-part A&E docuseries, says she's getting death threats for speaking out against Hugh Hefner. "The controversy has deepened a major schism in the Playboy community," says the Los Angeles Times' Amy Kaufman. "On one side are those who forged such close bonds while living or partying at the mansion that they still gather for an annual reunion at a park in Holmby Hills on the anniversary of Hefner’s passing. On the other are women like onetime Playboy Club 'Bunny Mother' Masten, who have drawn closer through the shared trauma of what they claim to have witnessed while in Hefner’s orbit. The battle within the world of Playboy has also epitomized the emerging fault lines of a culture in which public allegations of sexual misconduct are ostensibly given more credence, but individuals remain reluctant to speak out against friends and colleagues. And it’s all focused on Hefner, who died in September 2017, just more than a week before New York Times reporting on the accusations against Harvey Weinstein set the #MeToo movement in motion."