I, for one, am excited about “The Playboy Club,” NBC’s new fall show that sounds like a bonus dose of the sex, drugs and cultural upheaval we’ve come to love from “Mad Men.” (Come back soon, pretty please?) But other ladies are less than thrilled, such as the inimitable Gloria Steinem, the feminist icon/all-around badass who went undercover as a waitress/Bunny at the Playboy Club in 1963 for an exposé in Show magazine. In an interview with Reuters to promote a new documentary about her life, the 77-year-old huffed and puffed, “Clearly ‘The Playboy Club’ is not going to be accurate. It was the tackiest place on earth. It was not glamorous at all.” I take her word for this: her exposé revealed many things to the public about the so-called harmless fun of Playboy Club culture, including how all the waitresses were required to have a pelvic exam and a test for STDs. Let me repeat that: waitresses had to get tested for STDs. “[O]ne of the things they had to change because of my expose was that they required all the Bunnies, who were just waitresses, to have an internal exam and a test for venereal disease,” Steinem said, no doubt with pride. She continued to praise “Mad Men” as “a net plus [for pop culture], because it shows the world of the early 1960s with some realism.” However, she added, “I expect that ‘The Playboy Club’ will be a net minus and I hope people boycott it. It’s just not telling the truth about the era.” Keep reading »
Tag Archives: playboy
Mercede Johnston Slams Bristol Palin, Says She Got Preggers On Purpose
“Levi was whipped like Todd, because Bristol is very manipulative. She’d use sex to get her way on many things … Bristol’s pregnancy wasn’t unexpected, an accident. She and Levi planned it. They were trying to conceive for months.”
—Mercede Johnston sounds off in the new issue of Playboy about her brother Levi Johnston‘s relationship with Bristol Palin and drops the bombshell that the two allegedly planned to have a child together. I would be much more inclined to believe this if the rest of her quotes in the articles weren’t so ranty. And if she were wearing clothes while she said it. [Playboy] Keep reading »
9 Famous Names You Wouldn’t Guess Got Their Start In Playboy
Surprise! Designer Cynthia Rowley got her big break thanks to Playboy. At a party over the weekend, Rowley was overheard saying that she got her very first credit in a magazine when she was a student and Playboy published a spread of a model in a sailor hat and matching skirt of her design. The only problem? She couldn’t show her parents. Luckily, after graduation, one of Rowley’s grandmothers gave her $3,000, which she used to launch her first line. Soon, she was having fashion shows in her apartment attended by the likes of Andy Warhol. [Page Six, Wikipedia]
Charlie Sheen’s Former Goddess, Bree Olsen, On The Cover Of Playboy
Rachel Oberlin, aka porn star Bree Olsen, had the good sense to finally ditch Charlie Sheen via text message. But her spot in his pantheon of goddesses has earned her the August cover of Playboy, posing in about 1/5 of a Charlie T-shirt. I also like that she’s both wearing tiger undies and posing with a tiger. Winning! [BuzzFeed]
Evening Quickies: Weezer Hosting An Indie Rock Cruise & What Sex With Charlie Sheen Is Actually Like
- Weezer is hosting an “indie rock cruise” from Miami to Cozumel, Mexico, next January! Bands slated to play/re-enact that “Titantic” I’m-king-of-the-world scene include Yuck, Wavves, Free Energy, Sebadoh and Dinosaur Jr. Honestly, Weezer is more “Top 40″ than “indie” at this point, but maybe organizing a Carnival cruise is one of those hipster things, like wearing Hush Puppies, that is so hipster it makes the mainstream indie again? [PopDust]
- Sarah Jessica Parker is on the cover of Vogue again. Again! [Just Jared]
- Emma Watson said she had no idea Daniel Radcliffe struggled with alcohol because “as far as I know, he never took a sick day. He was like the most professional, amazing guy ever.” [Us Weekly]
- Even Richard Simmons is getting in on this planking action. At least, that’s what I think this photo is. [Dlisted]
Anna Sophia Berglund & Shera Bechard: 5 Things To Know About Hugh Hefner’s New Girlfriends
Time is of the essence for 85-year-old Hugh Hefner, so we’re not surprised his fiancee-turned-runaway-bride Crystal Harris has already been replaced. Introducing the Playboy playboy’s newest “girlfriends,” Anna Sophia Berglund and Shera Bechard. After the jump, let’s meet Hef’s new leading ladies. Keep reading »
Mrs. Crystal Hefner Graces The Cover Of Playboy
I have a feeling that the July cover of Playboy will not go down in history as one of Hugh Hefner‘s favorites. It obviously went to print before Crystal Harris called off their wedding, and features Crystal sitting in a leather chair, puffing on a pipe, wearing in a sailor’s cap, alongside the couple’s dog, Charlie. But the worst? The coverline, “America’s Princess: Introducing Mrs. Crystal Hefner.” Since the news broke yesterday that Crystal and Hugh were no more, Crystal’s Lifetime TV special, “Marrying Hef,” has been canceled. But never fear, you can still listen to her new single. As Hugh himself retweeted on Tuesday, “Omg @CrystalHarris left @hughhefner the day her single came out on iTunes. Coincidence? I think not.” [People, Fox News] Keep reading »
Playboy Club Opens In London And Feminists Say “Eff Off Hef”
Perhaps is not such exciting news now that we live in an era when 8th graders go to Hooters on a field trip, but a new Playboy Club opened this weekend in Mayfair, London. Hugh Hefner first brought a Playboy Club to London in 1966, but it closed after 15 years. The new Playboy Club in London features “bunnies” ages 19 to 40 who’ll work in either the cocktail lounge or the casino while they wear Playboy’s iconic bunny costumes. And if men’s enthusiasm to visit the Playboy Club in any way rivals women’s enthusiasm to work for it, Hef won’t have to worry: 3,000 women competed for 80 positions to don a Playboy Bunny tail!
Alas, not everyone is so happy about the new Playboy Club. Keep reading »
Kendra Wilkinson Says “Dancing With The Stars” Taught Her She Can Be Sexy With Her Clothes On
“‘[Dancing with the Stars'] was a perfect new start to my new life. It really proved that I could be sexy with some clothes on. Not a lot of clothes, but it proved to myself that I can do something like this. I feel like the same person I’ve always been since birth, but I have a new head on my shoulders. I’m a mom now. Life is different. But I’m still young. We’re still fresh. I’m just having fun, but I would never go back in time and do Playboy again. That’s something I’ll leave in my past.”
—Kendra Wilkinson takes a brief pause from reminding us how her size zero, pre-baby body is back, and says something really interesting—that after doing “Dancing with the Stars,” she’s not sure she would become a Playboy bunny if given the chance to do it over again. Hey, if the show led to some personal growth and taught her that sexy doesn’t equal naked, I am all in favor. [People] Keep reading »
Patti Davis, Ronald Reagan’s Daughter, Poses Nude For More Magazine
The words “Ronald Reagan” and “nude” in the headline scared you, didn’t it? Relax: it’s just his daughter Patti Davis posing nude again. Yes, again. Patti posed naked for Playboy in 1994 at age 42, she says, to celebrate kicking drugs and getting her body into shape. Now the First Daughter is posing nude at age 58 in the June issue of More, a magazine aimed at over-40 ladies, to prove her body is still as rock solid as her dad’s belief in trickle-down economics. While I generally think it’s cheesy when political hangers-on bare all (here’s lookin’ at you, Levi Johnston and sister), Patti Davis genuinely seems proud of her body’s accomplishments. Keep reading »
