Down the Rabbit Hole - Holly Madison

the first time as incredibly pornographic (which of course was the original intention behind the image
in the first place). Who knows, I may have been the one that initially had the thing framed, but by that
point I was embarrassed that that photo was still up there for all to see.
Hef confessed, while looking directly at me, that he proposed to Crystal to avoid making the
same mistake he had with me. I remained as stoic as possible, just nodding solemnly like a robot.
Giving him—or viewers—false hope was the last thing I wanted to do. We each gave him a hug,
offered him our condolences and words of encouragement, and then let him get back to his
paperwork.
The Lifetime special flopped. No one was invested in Crystal and Hef as a couple, and unlike
the ferocious media storm, the special failed to mention the other man Crystal was involved with.
Though the scandal made a splash in the press, most people who didn’t know Hef brushed it off as a
publicity stunt.
Trust me, Hef may be a publicity whore, but he would never risk his own bulletproof ladies’
man reputation for the sake of a headline.
Crystal, on the other hand, didn’t have as much reverence for his public image. According to a
report in the New York Post’s gossip column Page Six:
Hugh Hefner’s wedding to Crystal Harris was called off after she secretly planned to ditch
the Playboy mogul at the altar in return for a $500,000 media deal, Page Six has exclusively
learned. . . . A source told us, “Crystal wanted to ditch Hef at the altar. Her plan was to
walk up the aisle and say she couldn’t go through with it. The wedding was to be filmed for
a reality special, and her refusal to marry him would be a sensation. She was looking for a
tie-in deal of around $500,000 for the exclusive ‘I ditched Hef at the altar’ interview.
While there was interest, Crystal didn’t get an offer anywhere near half a million.”
Crystal continued to milk any ounce of publicity she could get for months: promoting her
Playboy cover (the July 2011 cover had been designed to showcase Hef’s newest wife, but at the last
minute a sticker reading “Runaway Bride” had to be slapped over the top of it so the magazine
wouldn’t look dreadfully out of step and could simultaneously capitalize on the scandal) and Girls
Next Door season six’s DVD release (despite barely being in any of the episodes, Bridget, Kendra,
and I were on the front of the box along with Crystal and the twins in an attempt to sell more copies).
She appeared at a Heidi Montag–hosted pool party, publically pawned her engagement ring, hired an
animal lawyer to get back the dog she left at the mansion months earlier, and made a well-publicized
visit to Howard Stern.
In the graphic interview, she told Stern that sex with Hef lasted “like, two seconds. Then I was
just over it . . . I’m not turned on by Hef. Sorry.”
Even from Las Vegas, I’m pretty sure I could see the steam shooting out of Hef’s ears. Nothing
gets under his skin more than someone doubting his sexual prowess.
Unable to keep quiet and in a desperate attempt to salvage his lothario reputation, Hef fired back
at Crystal via a series of tweets: