Jenny McCarthy has spoken out about the damning allegations former Playboy bunnies have made against Hugh Hefner, saying her "heart broke" when she heard them.
As previously reported, the Playboy mansion's reputation has been left in ruins after a confronting docuseries, Secrets of Playboy, aired in January. Former Playboy bunnies, Holly Madison and Bridget Marquardt, also spoke recently on the Juicy Scoop podcast about claims of coercive group sex and allegations of mistreatment.
Speaking on the #NoFilter with Zack Peter podcast, the famous former Playmate revealed that she'd been asked to host the docuseries, as well as be interviewed, however she turned it down after six requests.
"I didn't have the same experiences, so I wasn't going to sign up for a paycheck and be salacious when I didn't experience those things," she told Peter, "And hearing their stories, my heart broke for a lot of these women."
McCarthy is one of the most notable Playmates - she was Playmate of the Month in 1993, before making it to Playmate of the Year in 1994, per ABC. She had continued to appear in the publication over the years, and her last appearance was in 2012 at the age of 40.
Despite her sporadic involvement with the publication, McCarthy had maintained that her experience was different to those of Madison and Marquardt, telling Peter: "I'm so grateful that when I was there, [Hugh Hefner] was married."
The 49-year-old, who was raised Catholic, added: "We weren't even allowed near [Hefner] or around the house. It was very, um, it was almost like Catholic school to be honest! There were no orgies or big parties going on, so I think I went in there in a window of time that was kind of safe [...] Hearing some of these girls' stories is really rough."
Madison and Marquardt, who were two of Hefner's "main girlfriends" during the early 00s, alleged that they felt coerced into group sex with the Playboy creator - Marquardt even stated that she tried to "block out" memories of her time participating in the orgies.
Marquardt also spoke about how concerned she was about the cleanliness of the orgies, stating: "You were hoping everyone's in the same situation, and there is a doctor on staff. You're hoping everybody is being checked out, and everybody is being — I say this in quotes — 'monogamous' to that relationship, but you don't know [...] If there's new girls coming up, which there often were, like, I just wanted to be first and be done. And I felt like that was the cleanest way."
The A and E docuseries, Secrets of Playboy, lifted the lid on the goings on in the famous mansion and Hefner was accused of a range of shocking allegations - including giving women Quaaludes before sex, engaging in bestiality, and recording women without their consent, per Insider.
Hefner's death in 2017 marked Playboy's fall from grace - the reputation Playboy had as the pinnacle of schoolboy fantasy died with its creator, and now all that lives on is the brand's legacy as a supposed hub of immorality.
Hefner's death was noted as due to a cardiac arrest, sepsis, and a list of other illnesses on his death certificate, the Los Angeles Times reported. He was 91.
