Holly Madison, the American TV personality who spent her formative years associated with the Playboy Mansion, was in a relationship with the magazine’s founder and editor-in-chief, Hugh Hefner, at the time. After he passed away in 2017, she has finally spoken up about her lack of reaction to his death in an exclusive interview with People Magazine. She shared how, after his demise, people had expected her to have some big response. She also said that she stands by her decision of not making a comment during his death.
Holly Madison stands by her decision of not making a comment when Hugh Hefner died
In the past she has expressed that during her relationship with Hugh Hefner, she felt like she was trapped in a Playboy false paradise. Hefner died later in 2017 to which she felt an array of emotions but did not find it necessary to make a public comment. In her book, down the Rabbit Hole she also detailed her trauma while dating Hefner.
Madison has left the Mansion for nearly 15 years and has now become an actress, a New York Times bestselling author, a mother, and a podcast host. In the interview with People, she shared, “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. I’d already come out talking about what a toxic relationship this was for me,” she said. “Why am I supposed to post a memorial on my Instagram?” she added.
The 43-year-old said that she felt a wide range of emotions when she heard the news. She shared, “Not relief at all, because I felt like I had taken myself kind of out of that universe pretty solidly. But it was a really odd time. For me, after leaving that relationship, I kind of felt like he had always interacted with me in such a fake way. Because every interaction he had with me was all about control or this fantasy he had of a relationship. It almost felt like playing house in a way.”
Holly Madison explains why she didn’t stay in touch with Hugh Hefner after leaving the Mansion and their relationship
After Holly exited the Playboy Mansion, she started acting in Girls Next Door, where Hefner tried to make contact. She shared, “The spinoff was produced by the same guy who did Girls Next Door, so he would want to do crossover episodes. So I did a few of those and it felt safe because the cameras were on, and it’s semi-scripted, so that felt okay, but if I was in a meeting with him in the office, he would always be like, ‘Why don’t I get Hef on the phone? Why don’t you guys talk?'”
In the podcast, she also revealed that she did not intend to speak to Hefner, whom she compared to a robot. She shared that everything he said was, “designed to get a certain reaction” to keep her on his good side. This made her feel that there was a lack of authenticity in their relationship. Madison also revealed that she hadn’t spoken to him in five or six years before he passed away.
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