Hugh Hefner's widow Crystal makes jaw-dropping claim about Playboy mogul's family and her inheritance

Daily Mail​

4 days ago

Crystal Hefner has made another shocking claim about her late husband Hugh.
The former DJ, 39, already exposed the legendary Playboy mogul in her tell-all memoir Only Say Good Things, but now she's made another wild claim about Hugh's relationship with his family.
During an argument with former Playmate Audra Lynn on Instagram, Crystal called Hugh's youngest son Cooper a 'narcissist' and said that father-of-four Hugh didn't even like his own children.
'Hef didn't even like his own kids, he would tell me he's not a good dad and shoo them out of the room when they would come in trying to talk to him,' she wrote.
She also denied an accusation that she had 'walked away with inheritance meant for [Hefner's] family', but did confirm that she had been left with the $5million Hollywood Hills home that Hef bought her during their marriage.
DailyMail.com has contacted Crystal's representatives for comment.
The blonde bombshell, who now works as a real estate agent, has been at war with her late husband and his family over the last few years.
Last year, Hugh's son Marston launched a scathing attack on Crystal, accusing her of being a 'master manipulator' – and even appeared to suggest that she took advantage of his father before his death.
Marston, 35, made a series of damning claims about his father's widow on the Girls Next Level podcast, suggesting Crystal was hellbent on power and oversaw changes to Hef's will when he was mentally fragile.
Speaking to hosts Holly Madison and Bridget Marquardt, he said that Crystal became addicted to the 'idea of control and power,' and would determine who could and could not enter the Playboy Mansion.
'She liked controlling the guest list,' he said. 'She liked taking girls off and on the guest list depending on how, whatever the whims were at the time… She liked being in that position where you had to go through her or you had to ask her for things.'
Her alleged obsession with control appeared to extend to matters of Hugh's will, with Marston suggesting Crystal oversaw changes when his father was 'sick' and 'dosed with f***ing medication,' which he claims left the businessman unaware of his surroundings.
'He was really sick and that's why she got all these NDA things,' he said. 'According to her, she didn't want people to see him not able to walk, not able to talk.'
Marston, whose mother is model Kimberley Conrad, said his father would struggle to remember how to play backgammon with him due to the strong back pain medication he was on at the time.
'The year that he passed away, he changed the will and he gave me, another person, and Crystal more money,' he said. 'And I don't know how much more, I don't remember if Crystal got more than us....
'I was looking at that when I was getting the inheritance, and I was like, "Why? When he wasn't here, when he didn't know what the f*** was up or down half of the time, why would he change his will?"'
He continued: 'And that's why I sent an email saying, "I don't think he's competent anymore, guys, can we agree on this?" And nobody really wanted to address what I perceived as the elephant in the room.
'And then more than that, it's like why is it when somebody can't play his favorite thing and doesn't know where he is, why is he changing his f***ing will? Why are people allowing that to happen?'
Crystal famously wed the magazine publisher in 2012 when she was 26 and he was 86.
They were married until his death at age 91 in 2017, which was the result of heart failure and septicemia after contracting a deadly strain of e-coli. He left a reported $43 million fortune behind.
Last year, Crystal published her explosive memoir, Only Say Good Things: Surviving Playboy And Finding Myself, in which she made a number of bombshell claims, including that she never loved the late magazine kingpin and she felt imprisoned in their four-year marriage.
Marston revealed how he had messaged Holly and Bridget, referring to Crystal as a 'master manipulator' after reading her book, and questioned some of her claims - as well as her motivation for writing the memoir.
Suggesting that she buys Instagram followers, he asked: 'If you're not interested in fame, why are you buying Instagram followers?
'If you're not after money, then why was she hustling as Crystal DJ Hefner?'
Crystal later fired back at Marston's claims in a statement to Us Weekly.
'I feel that obviously he has a lot of pain and hurt still from the relationship or lack thereof with his father.'
She added, 'And there are some things I think he's trying to heal or get answers to that he's realizing may never be answered. So maybe he's filling in the blanks themselves.'
Crystal also strongly denied Marston's claims that she had Hugh 'dosed with f***ing medication' and that she had 'invited strangers' to Hugh's funeral.
'I was married to him. I was closest to Hef,' she insisted.
Regarding Holly and Bridget, Crystal said that the duo were trying to 'sabotage' her and 'pull my life apart'.
'If I have a problem with someone, I'll go to the person and talk to them. Obviously they just want attention,' she sniffed.
In another statement, this time to the New York Post, Crystal said that Marston's claims about her changing Hef's will were false.
'This story is untrue and was discredited by Hef's estate attorney who wrote his will years before Hef passed,' she said.
Last month, Crystal announced that she had officially taken legal steps to change her name, nearly eight years after her husband's death.
On June 13, 2025, she filed a petition in Los Angeles Superior Court to revert to her maiden name, Crystal Margaret Harris.
The filing, which was reviewed by People, indicates that she is seeking to resume the name she held before her marriage to Hugh.