Hugh Hefner's Widow Slid Into Jessica Biel's DMs With A Plea — And Her Message Is Raising Big Questions About The 'Playmates' Movie

Stop scrolling, because a very public DM is making waves in Hollywood right now, and it's a serious one.

Crystal Harris (who also goes by Crystal Hefner) has posted a message she sent to Jessica Biel, asking her to "please reconsider" joining Searchlight's upcoming Playboy-world film Playmates. Heavy stuff, so let's break it down.

The Message

After Biel's casting was announced this week, Harris shared a screenshot of an Instagram DM she sent the actress. According to Variety, it reads in part: "Please reconsider playing Hugh Hefner's wife if this film intends to romanticize him or the Playboy world."

She continued that she was "actually his wife" and said she "experienced sexual, emotional, financial and physical abuse in that relationship," per Deadline.

Harris, who was married to the Playboy founder from 2012 until his death in 2017, also wrote that other women have come forward with allegations and that she hopes everyone involved will "listen to the women who lived it before helping Hollywood turn it back into nostalgia."

Wait, What Is Playmates Actually About?

Glad you asked. It's the directorial debut of Lorraine Nicholson, who wrote it and drew on her own childhood friendship with Hefner's kids, Deadline reports.

Per the official synopsis, it follows Elle (Indiana Elle), a 13-year-old know-it-all who treats the Playboy Mansion like a second home. She befriends Anna (Lily-Rose Depp), one of seven hopefuls competing to be Playmate of the Month. Bill Pullman plays Hefner.

Biel's role? Deadline says it's a fictional character and is not inspired by any of Hefner's three wives.

Crystal's Follow-Up

Harris didn't stop at the DM. In a separate post, per Deadline, she said she hopes the film doesn't glorify Hefner, and that with women in the leading roles, it ultimately delivers "a message of empowerment" about finding fulfillment "beyond Playboy."

So it's less a flat-out boycott call and more a conditional plea: if the movie romanticizes him, she'd like Biel out.

The Backstory

This isn't Harris's first time speaking out. She detailed life at the "toxic" Playboy Mansion in her 2024 memoir Only Say Good Things: Surviving Playboy and Finding Myself, as Variety notes.

The Hollywood Reporter adds that in February she criticized how Hefner's foundation handled his private scrapbooks, which she said may include images of girls who were underage at the time.

The Tea ☕

• Crystal Harris publicly asked Jessica Biel to reconsider her Playmates role, saying she experienced abuse in her marriage to Hugh Hefner.
• The film is a coming-of-age story from first-time director Lorraine Nicholson, starring Lily-Rose Depp, Bill Pullman and Indiana Elle.
• Biel's character is reportedly fictional, and none of the outlets we read had a response from Biel or Searchlight at publication time.

What Happens Next?

That's the big question. Biel hasn't publicly responded in any of the reporting we read, and there's no word on whether the film's approach is changing. We'll be watching.

One thing's clear: the conversation around how Hollywood retells the Playboy era is very much alive.

Where do you land: can a film set in the Playboy world work if it centers women's perspectives, or is it too soon to go back? Sound off below.

Sources: Variety | Deadline | The Hollywood Reporter