Holly Madison, the former Playboy model and reality TV star, has pulled back the curtain on some of the most disturbing details from her time living in Hugh Hefner’s infamous Playboy Mansion.
Madison, 45, who was Hefner’s “Number One Girl” from 2001 to 2008, has been open in the past about the strange and often uncomfortable experiences she endured while living alongside the Playboy founder.
She previously revealed the “disgusting” sex acts she was pressured into, the bizarre items Hefner kept in his bedroom, and the unsettling reality of life with the billionaire, who passed away in 2017 at age 91.
Now, Madison is exposing another layer of Hefner’s control: his notorious “black book.”
The Black Book: More Than Just a Ledger
Speaking on a throwback episode of the Girls Next Level podcast with fellow former Playmate Bridget Marquardt, 42, Madison described the black book as a tool Hefner used to meticulously track the lives and actions of his live-in girlfriends.
“The black book kept track of a few different things,” Marquardt explained. “It kept track of when somebody collected their allowance. He would mark it off so you couldn’t ask for it twice.”
Hugh Hefner dated Holly Madison from 2001-2008. Credit: J. Merritt/Getty Images.
But it didn’t stop there. “It also kept track of who slept with him and when,” Marquardt added, noting that while neither she nor Madison were directly involved in some of the more invasive practices, other women reportedly received personal “reports” from Hefner about their sexual activity.
“He’d be like, ‘Oh, you’ve been on your period for three weeks,’” the duo recalled, referencing the kinds of comments other mansion residents claimed Hefner made.
A Major Factor in Madison’s Exit
For Madison, the black book wasn’t just an oddity, it became a symbol of the manipulation and surveillance she experienced under Hefner’s roof. She says it was one of the driving reasons she eventually left the mansion after seven years.
“When I was moving out of the house – I wanted to so badly, but I had no access – if I could have gotten to the drawer and burned that book, I would have,” Madison said.
She went on to describe how Hefner’s meticulous record-keeping included not only sexual encounters but also explicit photos of the women, which he allegedly printed and shared with others in the mansion.
“It’s just so disgusting how he kept a record of who he had sex with each night, took all these nudes of all the girls when they were drunk in the limo, flashing, and then printed them out and handed them to every girl,” Madison explained.
Credit: Denise Truscello/Getty Images.
The Legacy of Fear and Control
Madison described the black book as a source of fear and anxiety for many women at the mansion. She said it made her reluctant to leave at times, worried that private images could be exposed as a form of revenge.
“So I might as well hide here, it was just gross,” she added, reflecting on the psychological toll the environment took on her and others.
The revelations offer yet another look at the darker side of the Playboy empire and the pressures endured by the women who lived in Hefner’s orbit. Madison and Marquardt’s accounts highlight how control and surveillance were intertwined with the glamorous image of the Playboy lifestyle.