All language subtitles for American.Playboy.S01E10.My.Way.1080p.WEB-DL.AMZN.DDP.5.1.H.264

[announcer]
Hugh Hefner invites you

toPlayboy's roller disco
and pajama party!

♪♪

♪ Let your body go ♪

♪ You know you can do it ♪

♪ Like eenie
meenie meinie mo ♪

♪ There's really
nothing to it ♪

♪You can do it ♪

[Hugh Hefner]
The 1970s had been
a whirlwind.

♪Do it, just go ahead
and do your dance ♪

[Hugh Hefner]
By the end of the decade,

Playboy operated
over 30 properties

in six countries
across the world.

♪ Just go ahead
and do your dance ♪

♪ Get up
and do your thing ♪

[Hugh Hefner]
And with the center
of thePlayboy empire

now in Los Angeles,

we were throwing
more parties than ever.

♪ Get up and do
your thing ♪

[Hugh Hefner]
As we moved into
the 1980s, there was

even more excitement
to look forward to.

Space ShuttleColumbia
became the first mission

of the long-awaited
space shuttle program.

[announcer]
And liftoff.

♪♪

[Hugh Hefner]
And the world
of television

was forever changed

with the introduction
of MTV.

♪♪

As forPlayboy,

after a rough patch
in the '70s,

when circulation
numbers were down

and ad revenues declined,

we still had
a steady readership

of 4.5 million people
each month.

♪♪

Our first London Playboy
Club was so popular

that we'd opened four more
casinos across England.

Playboy's gambling
turnover in this country

amounts,
in the past five years,

to something
over £660 million,

a great proportion
ofPlayboy's profits.

[Hugh Hefner]
And no one was
enjoying our success

more than the man
running our UK operation,

Victor Lownes.

♪ I'm a man ♪

♪ I'm a goddess ♪

♪ I'm a man ♪

[journalist]
What's you're salary now?

Oh, about £300,000 a year.
It's quite high.

♪♪

[Hugh Hefner]
After a decade in England,

Victor even had his own
42-room mansion that he shared

with Playmate-turned-
girlfriend Marilyn Cole,

and the two were
fitting right in

with London's
high society.

[James Karmel]
Victor Lownes has
a lot of charisma.

He was riding horses
with Prince Charles

and going on foxhunts
with the English aristocracy.

♪♪

[Hugh Hefner]
With his casinos
outperforming

longtime British
gambling companies,

it seemed like nothing
could stop Victor

and the UK operation's
success.

[Victor Lownes]
Yes, it's a very
profitable operation.

I've had many days
here when we've won

as much money as we've
paid for the place.

[Hugh Hefner]
But we were
about to find out

that being
the biggest game in town

also made you
the biggest target.

[woman]
♪ Every little movement♪

♪ Every little thing
you do♪

♪ Is it sleight of hand♪

♪ That commands my heart
to love you?♪

♪ Every little movement♪

♪ Every
little movement♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

[Hugh Hefner]
For nearly 15 years,

thePlayboy operation
in England

achieved
unparalleled success...

♪♪

...but all that changed
on February 20th, 1981.

[reporter]
Playboy are accused of
violating the gaming laws.

Police raided
its Park Lane offices.

The description by the
Westminster magistrates,

Playboy is not
fit and proper

to run
a casino operation.

[Hugh Hefner]
The London police staged
a simultaneous raid

on all of our casinos.

Turns out, our success
was not sitting well

with some of
our competitors.

They began making claims
of illegal operations

at our London club,
prompting charges

that we'd violated a number
of English gaming laws.

Our staff
was interrogated,

boxes of files
were seized,

all in an effort to dig up
dirt on our operations.

[Karmel]
Other casinos
were under scrutiny

and eventually,
so was Playboy.

Playboywas accused of
some improprieties.

It's questionable whether
that was actually happening.

Lownes claimed they were not.

Lownes had always
wanted his clubs

to be a model of integrity.

Today is not the end of
Playboy, but it could well be

the beginning of the end.

[Derick Daniels]
The casinos were raided.

Employees questioned.
Files seized.

When did this happen?

Yesterday.

I don't understand.

Well, I don't have
specifics yet,

but from what I'm hearing,
the allegations are serious,

like enough to lose us
our gaming licenses.

What?

Holy shit.

Exactly.

No. There is no way
Victor is involved

in anything illegal.

Hef, I appreciate
your loyalty,

but until
we have the facts...

What did he say?

I haven't heard from him.

A friend of mine from
The London Timescalled me.

Apparently, it's all
over the newspapers.

The first thing he should
have done was call me,

but King Victor
answers to no one,

and now we have a goddamn
shit storm on our hands.

He will answer to me.
Forget the phone.

Get him here. Now.

My pleasure.

[Christie Hefner]
Because of the structure
of the British oversight

and to some extent
because Victor liked to

keep information
close to the vest,

the American executives
were less aware

of the details of the business
than they might have liked.

[Hugh Hefner]
I'd given Vic
a lot of freedom

to run
the London operation

and I'd always
trusted his decisions,

but with the London casino

responsible for
85% of our profits,

we needed to resolve
this issue

as quickly as possible,

especially with a whole
new gambling operation

starting up
in Atlantic City.

[Harry]
Ethel, there's something
out there in the water.

[Ethel]
Harry, there's
nothing out there.

Then what's rising
out of the sea, huh?

Oh, that!

That's the new Playboy
Hotel and Casino.

What?

Oh, Harry, it's
the dawn of a new era

for the Playboy
Hotel and Casino,

with their fantastic,
new salon privé.

They wait on you
hand and foot.

Ethel, why is it
rising out of the sea?

Oh, Harry,
it's show business.

[announcer]
The new, very civilized,
Playboy Hotel and Casino.

♪♪

[reporter]
Atlantic City is already
a new gambling mecca,

America's new Las Vegas.

[Hugh Hefner]
Three years earlier,

Victor had
begun construction

on a state-of-the-art
casino in Atlantic City.

[reporter]
Despite the legal wrangle
in London,

the Playboy Club is alive

and profitable
in Atlantic City.

[Hugh Hefner]
We had invested $30
million in the project,

and after obtaining a
temporary operating permit,

the Playboy
Hotel and Casino

was open for business
while we awaited

final approval from
the gaming commission.

♪ Oh ♪

♪Do you want to dance? ♪

♪♪

[Karmel]
Atlantic City
was a great opportunity

to import Playboy style
and glamour

into the casino business,

which is something
that they had

successfully been able
to accomplish in London.

That was a formula
for success.

[Hugh Hefner]
With so much riding

on our new casino
in Atlantic City,

I needed
to feel confident

that the situation
in London

was under control.

[Hugh Hefner]
Vic, I'm so sorry
to keep you waiting.

[Victor Lownes]
Oh, no problem, buddy.

Where's Daniels?

Getting the noose
ready somewhere?

This isn't about
your issues with Derick.

I don't have issues
with Derick.

I have an issue.
He wants my job.

He is the president
of the company.

And I answer
to the real boss.

Okay, then.
Answer to me.

Tell me what the hell
is going on.

Nothing.

Nothing.
[sighing]

That's not gonna
cut it, Victor.

Well, nothing
of consequence.

I would call
losing the licenses

a pretty stiff
consequence.

We are not gonna
lose the licenses.

That is not
what Derick says.

Fuck Daniels.

He doesn't know
the first thing

about what happened, Hef.

Okay,
those raids were staged

based on evidence
provided by

a crooked competitor's
paid informants.

Look, it's a speed bump,
and when we're past it,

it's not just gonna be
business as usual.

It'll be bigger business.

In fact, I already
have my eye

on two new locations.

Okay, okay. Let's worry
about the licenses

before we
discuss expansion.

Hey, you can worry about
the licenses if you want,

but there
is nothing there.

[sighing]

We've been through
a lot together, Vic.

Yeah, we have.

Don't let this thing
be the last.

I promise you it won't.

[Patty Farmer]
Derick Daniels had never
gotten along with Victor.

They always clashed heads,
and it was often said

it was a wonderful thing
that an ocean separated them.

It was a definite
clash of personalities

but also vying
for the attention of Hef.

[Hugh Hefner]
It didn't matter whether
or not I believed Vic.

The problems in London
were under his watch,

and now the entire
company was at risk.

For Daniels, there was
only one solution.

Derick wanted to fire Victor
and Hef had a problem with it.

And then, we were told
by our British attorney

that if Victor
were terminated,

we may well
keep our license.

This was a moment of
truth for the company.

Our profits were coming
from the UK.

Hefner had
a fiduciary responsibility

as the CEO of the company

to not only
protect the shareholders

but his investment
and the future of the company.

[Hugh Hefner]
Victor and I had been close
friends for over 30 years

and there were few people
I respected more,

but with the future of the
London casino on the line,

I had no choice but to make

one of the hardest
decisions of my career.

[line ringing]

Yes. Can you put me through
to Derick Daniels, please?

Victor! A pleasure
to see you, as always.

Likewise.
Especially unannounced.

This is my club.

It's the company's club.
And I run the company.

Really?

I'm sure Hef would be
very keen to hear that.

Oh, Hef sent me.

We'd like you
to step down.

Step down?

Mm-hmm.

This will send a message
to the gaming commission

that we are serious about
cleaning up corruption.

There is no corruption,

which I will prove
at the hearing.

But if you fire me, you're
basically admitting to it.

The decision has been made.

I knew we had trouble.
First trouble we'd had

in 15 years of
operation in England,

and I was prepared to
do battle with them.

Unfortunately, I think

they stampeded Hefner
into panicking

when we ran into
difficulties in England

and made it a first
order of business

to, uh, terminate me.

[Marilyn Cole]
Playboyin London,
that was Victor's baby.

It was all
very, very dramatic,

and Victor was devastated
in every which way,

and he was devastated
for Playboy.

[reporter]
After the police raid,
he was suddenly

and unexpectedly fired by
his American headquarters.

Victor Lownes, now
the interested spectator,

has not been asked
to give evidence.

The sacking of you by
the men from Chicago...

Yes.

...would seem to be
a rather clumsy way

of saying to the gaming
board and the law...

Yes.

...we are now clean again.

We've got rid of
the number one culprit.

Give us a chance.

Do you think that's
the strategy?

If I were
the number one saint,

it'd still be
the strategy, yes.

I mean, uh, regardless...

And I do feel
that I did nothing wrong

during my administration.

[Cole]
For Victor to be fired
from Playboy,

it was the biggest
personal tragedy

as well as business tragedy
for both Hef and Victor.

[Hugh Hefner]
Looking back now,

I wish I'd handled
things differently.

Victor and I had been
through so much together

and I didn't
even say goodbye.

But what made it
even worse

is that it was
all for nothing.

The licensing magistrates,

four women and a man,
issued their verdict.

Very simply,
they said thatPlayboy

was not fit and proper
to hold a gaming license

and that the clubs had been
used for unlawful purposes.

[Hugh Hefner]
The London Playboy Club

was still denied
its gambling license.

[Karmel]
What Hugh Hefner
and Derrick Daniels,

I don't think,
grasped was,

Victor Lownes actually
was still seen

with a lot of prestige
and still had

a big influence
in the UK gaming industry

and still knew
what he was doing.

He understood what
was going on in the UK

much more than anyone,
and so, by getting rid of him,

you're essentially removing
an asset from your company

and an asset that very well
might have been able

to guide Playboy
through the investigation

without having to
lose its casino licenses.

[Hugh Hefner]
With the loss of
our gambling license,

we had to sell off
all of our London assets,

taking a huge
financial hit,

but it turned out,
we had even more problems

in Atlantic City.

The applicant failed
the test that each of us

is required to pass in
the conduct of our affairs.

This applicant
has not met its burden

to establish by clear
and convincing evidence

its qualifications
to hold a casino license.

[Hugh Hefner]
Investigators
had looked through

all ofPlayboy's
past business operations

and dug up mistakes
we'd made in the past.

[Karmel]
The Casino Control Commission
comes out with a report

detailing all these issues

with Playboy'spermanent
casino application.

The vote went against
Hefner because of his part

in bribing
New York officials

to obtain a liquor
license 20 years ago.

[Karmel]
They go back 20-plus years.

They look at anything
and everything

connected to Hugh Hefner

and the fact that
the British Gaming Board

has just decided to yank
Playboy'scasino licenses,

so Playboyloses its bid

for a permanent license
by a three-to-two vote.

LicensingPlayboy,
with its history,

would signal the abandonment

of virtually
all licensing criteria

requiring ethical restraint.

If the unethical practices
and illegal acts

of corporations
are not checked,

the future of a kind,
free casino industry

in Atlantic City
would be in jeopardy.

[Hugh Hefner]
The verdict was a major
blow to our business,

but I knew I had to
put on a brave face

to maintain
our reputation.

We are a sound,
broadly-based company,

and we'll
not only survive,

but we'll do very well
with or without gaming.

[Hugh Hefner]
But after losing both the
London casino operations

and now the investment
in Atlantic City,

the future of the company
was in jeopardy.

I know things look
very dark right now,

but this is fixable.

Is it?

Yeah, of course.

But you had to
think about it.

Oh, come on, Hef.

We just lost
almost $200 million.

Yes, yes, I'm well
aware how much money...

How does that not put us
on the brink of extinction?

[Hugh Hefner]
WithPlayboy's reputation
at an all-time low,

I knew we needed
to make a major change

at the company if we were
going to get back on track,

and it was clear that
Daniels wasn't cutting it,

so I decided it was time to
put someone else in charge.

♪♪

A couple of people
in the news tonight.

Playboy Enterprises
has a new president.

She's not
a former centerfold.

She's Christie Hefner.

Christie, pretty enough
to be a centerfold herself,

will bring a new image
and new zest toPlayboy.

♪♪

[Richard Rosenzweig]
A moment of truth came

that things were not working
well with Derick Daniels.

Hefner said, well,
so now what am I gonna do?

We both agreed that Christie
would be an appropriate CEO.

♪ Yo, pretty ladies
around the world ♪

She says she must
now makePlayboy

a clearly focused
communications company

instead of a corporation
that is broadly based...

and I'm sure
she intended no pun.

♪ We're about to go down ♪

[Hugh Hefner]
Christie was
my oldest child

with my first wife,
Millie.

I hadn't been around much
when she was growing up,

but after she graduated
summa cum laude

from Brandeis University
in 1974,

Christie came
to work atPlayboy

in an entry-level position.

I only saw my father
occasionally

when I was growing up.

I think that what allowed
us to get much closer

was when I went to work
in the company,

and the outgrowth
of that has been

we're actually now
very close.

♪ Word no matter
where you say it ♪

I joined the company not
really expecting to stay

more than a year or two,
but I did get interested

in the variety of businesses
and the challenges

and the people
that it attracted,

and as I stayed and worked

in different parts of the
company and learned more,

I found it
more and more intriguing.

♪ That you're acting
like fools ♪

[Rosenzweig]
Christie was
extremely bright.

She had a natural knack
for organizational efforts.

[Hugh Hefner]
Christie may have
been my daughter,

but she quickly carved
a path all on her own

within the company.

[Carrie Pitzulo]
Christie really
earned for herself

a reputation
as a very level-headed,

smart businesswoman.

Her lifestyle and her image

has been very different
than her father's.

♪♪

[Hugh Hefner]
And by 1982,
she had proven

that she was
more than capable

of taking over the reigns
of Playboy Enterprises.

I would like to introduce
another Playboy executive

who happens to be a woman,
one of whom I'm rather proud

because she's
also my daughter,

but I would be
very proud of her

if she weren't my daughter,
Christie Hefner.

[cheers and applause]

My being named president
actually was well received,

and I think that was because

I'd been in the company
for seven years.

People had seen me,
seen my work ethic,

seen how I handled myself.

Plus, I think the fact
that I was Christie Hefner,

I think people
believed that I cared

and that I cared
about the long term.

There is a bright and shining
star in the Hefner family

that's on the ascendency.

An articulate,
committed young woman.

And we are
going to be hearing

a great deal from her
in the years to come.

Christie,
we thank you very much

for all that you're doing.

[applause]

[Hugh Hefner]
But while there was no
better person for the job,

Christie was inheriting
a difficult situation.

They're calling it
the end of an era,

the victim of
changing times.

Playboy has closed down
its big city clubs

in Los Angeles,
Chicago, and New York.

[Hugh Hefner]
Going into the middle
of the decade,

we were on
the edge of bankruptcy.

[reporter]
Playboy has lost millions
of dollars in recent years,

much of it
because of the clubs.

Joe, that's the end
of the "tail."

Oh-ho-ho.
Very good, Bob.

[Hugh Hefner]
With the company
in crisis,

Christie dove
right into work.

When I took over
as president,

my goal was
to save the company.

The first order of business
was to stop the bleeding

and so we sold
the businesses

that we didn't think
we could make successes of,

like the book business
and the record business

and the resorts.

[Hugh Hefner]
Her efforts cut costs
by $8 million per year.

Despite these measures,

Playboy Enterprises still
lost $17.5 million in 1983.

Christie recognized that
if we wanted to survive,

we'd have to make
some bigger moves.

♪♪

The world was consuming
media in new ways,

and we needed to adapt
to changing times.

VCRs were in almost every
home across the country

and over 30 million people

had started paying for
premium cable stations

tailored
to their interests.

Christie saw the chance
to offer them

a whole new
Playboy experience.

♪♪

[announcer]
The Playboy Channel.

♪♪

When you start
talking aboutPlayboy

in combination
with pay television,

people's eyes light up,
because it's about

the hottest news in the
business going right now.

♪♪

[Christie Hefner]
Cable TV created
the opportunity

for destination viewing

and a great way of expanding
the brand to women

because the majority of
viewing was done by couples.

Just the man
I was looking for.

[David Eisenbach]
Cable television was one
of these great steps

toward transforming
and liberating

the dissemination
of information,

and what this allowed for,
you know, Hugh Hefner

was now to
have his own channel

that he doesn't have to
kind of filter himself

and his message
or his information,

and this is, of course,
a way to make

a tremendous amount
of money.

[cheers and applause]

Hiya, Hef!

[Hugh Hefner]
Airing between 8 p.m.
and 6 a.m. Eastern time,

the Playboy TV Network

became the country's
leading channel

for adult entertainment,
and as the channel grew

to more than 800,000
paying subscribers,

it gave us a much needed
boost in revenue.

♪♪

With the channel
proving to be a success,

Christie turned
to the magazine,

taking inspiration

fromPlayboy's
very first issue.

♪♪

[Christie Hefner]
As there were more and more
magazines proliferated

from the time
when Playboystarted,

it became
increasingly important

to be able to
distinguish yourself

on the newsstand to attract
the interest of the buyer,

and one clear way to do that
was through celebrities.

♪♪

[Hugh Hefner]
Women like Vanna White

graced the covers and
helped us increase sales.

♪♪

But in 1984, we were
offered exclusive rights

to nude photos
of one celebrity

who was sure
to cause controversy.

A year earlier,

20-year-old Vanessa
Williams had been crowned

the first African-American
Miss America,

but it didn't take long

for someone
from her past to surface,

looking to cash in
on her celebrity.

Years ago, she'd posed
nude, but was told

the photos would only
be used in silhouette.

Now the photographer

was shopping around
the full images.

Vanessa Williams' pictures
were offered to the magazine,

and there
wasn't any question

that there would be
strong commercial appeal

in this beautiful young
woman who was the first

African-American
Miss America,

but it was also
quite obvious

that these were not pictures

that she had intended
to have published.

♪ Ain't no love ♪

♪ In the heart
of the city ♪

[Hugh Hefner]
We knew that ifPlayboy
ran those photos,

she'd be forced
to give up her crown.

♪♪

[Hugh Hefner]
It was not a difficult
decision to make,

that if we ran those
pictures, we would destroy

the career of the first
black Miss America,

and that was the opposite

of the kind of statement
we wanted to make.

♪ Every place
that I go ♪

[Hugh Hefner]
Playboy rejected
the photos.

♪ But it seems
so strange ♪

[Pat Lacey]
You don't think
he would have sold

a lot of Playboymagazines?
Most certainly!

Very much could've
brought those photographs

and put them in a magazine.

What kind of man would
want to give a young woman

that kind of pain?

♪♪

[Hugh Hefner]
But our longtime rival,
Penthouse,

published the photos in
their September 1984 issue,

and Williams
was forced to resign.

[Vanessa Williams]
Potential harm
to the pageant

and the deep division that
a bitter fight may cause

has convinced me
that I must relinquish

my title as Miss America.

[Hugh Hefner]
It became the highest selling
Penthouse issue ever,

and for the first time
in history,

Penthouse sales beat ours

by nearly
one million copies.

But that success
was short-lived,

and soonPlayboy
was once again

outsellingPenthouse.

♪♪

Although we had been
through many struggles

over the past few years,
we never wavered

in our commitment
to covering issues

that other publications

thought were
too controversial.

And, in the mid '80s,
that issue was AIDS.

Scientists at the National
Centers for Disease Control

in Atlanta today released
the results of a study

which shows that
the lifestyle

of some male homosexuals
has triggered an epidemic.

[Hugh Hefner]
A strange, lethal,

sexually transmitted
disease with no cure.

It first appeared
in the gay community

of New York City
and spread quickly.

When AIDS starts off, at
least in the American mindset

and in the media
as a gay disease

but suddenly then winds up

also affecting
straight people...

The sexual revolution is
sex without consequences.

Now, suddenly, the
consequences can be deadly,

and this has
a tremendous effect

on my generation
that grew up in the 1980s

that suddenly,
wait a second,

this is something we need
to be anxious about.

Money for AIDS,
not for war!

[Hugh Hefner]
But the government
and the national press

largely ignored the crisis,

believing the subject
was too controversial.

The federal role must be
to give educators

accurate information
about the disease.

Now, how that
information is used

must be up to schools
and parents, not government.

[Hugh Hefner]
But I was determined
to make surePlayboy

addressed the issue
head on.

♪♪

♪ It used to be so easy ♪

♪To be your lover ♪

When the AIDS epidemic
started,

and then-President Reagan
wouldn't even say the word,

Playboyplayed,
I think, an important role

in educating people
about how the disease

was transmitted
and wasn't transmitted.

♪ Take it easy on me ♪

♪ It should be
easy to see ♪

[Hugh Hefner]
Playboy ran dozens
of articles

addressing
the AIDS crisis,

along with interviews
and any other formats

we could think of
to spread awareness.

♪ Just want you to know ♪

When AIDS came along, it came
with the frightening thought

that everybody who engaged
in sex with a stranger

was going to get AIDS.

That was full of mythology.

I wrote a short
editorial about AIDS.

We dealt with AIDS as
scientifically as we could.

♪ But whatever you do ♪

♪ Take it easy on me ♪

♪♪

[Hugh Hefner]
Over the past
three decades,

Playboy had
covered a wide range

of controversial topics,

and I was always proud
of the work we did,

but I was getting tired.

Christie had been at
the helm for six years

and proven she could
run the company.

After 35 years,
I decided, at age 62,

that I needed to step
back and settle down.

Though I'd shared my life

with many incredible
women over the years,

I'd sworn that I would
never marry again.

That is, until I
met Kimberley Conrad.

♪♪

[Rosenzweig]
Kimberley Conrad came to us

as a potential Playmate

from a photographer
in Vancouver.

Kimberley played
hard to get, actually.

She was very attractive
and a lot of fun.

[Hugh Hefner]
I met Kimberley
when she posed

for our January 1988
Playmate of the month.

♪♪

I had met many of our
Playmates in the past,

but there was something
special about Kimberley.

♪ She's just
a fallen angel ♪

[Hugh Hefner]
I felt an immediate sense
of ease with her.

♪ We're all fallen angels ♪

Hello.

This was our best
Christmas ever.

It was.

[Hugh Hefner]
It didn't take either
of us long to realize

that we were madly in love.

By February of that year,

Kimberley had moved
into the mansion.

From there,
things moved quickly.

♪ She's looking for the love
that she's never had ♪

♪ I know she's just
a fallen angel ♪

[Hugh Hefner]
Kimberly was named
Playmate of the Year

in June of 1989...

Having been in,
over the years,

a number of
romantic relationships,

this is different.

[Wedding March playing]

[Hugh Hefner]
...and became Kimberly
Hefner in July.

♪♪

This is probably
as good a moment as any

to thank all of you
for sharing with us

a rather unique evening.

[cheers and applause]

One that you thought
you'd never see.

[laughing]

I think that meeting Kimberley
is very much a matter

of having met
the right person

in the right place
at the right time.

I was ready for that
kind of relationship,

and she had the values
that I was looking for,

and she came to me
at a time

in which I was
looking for a safe harbor

after some very stormy seas.

♪♪

[Hugh Hefner]
Getting married was
only the beginning.

Wait, I'm right here!
Be careful!

Don't drop it.
Look! Look!

I think somebody's
on his nap time.

[Hugh Hefner]
Within a year,
our happy family expanded

when our son Marston
was born.

♪ It never really mattered
too much to me ♪

Where are you going,
little guy?

[Hugh Hefner]
And the year after that,
his brother, Cooper.

[Rosenzweig]
Hefner was not
really a parent

to his two children he had
with his first wife, Millie,

because he was busy
with his business,

with starting the magazine.

The two boys
he had with Kimberley

were doted on by Hefner.

In their very early years,

they spent a lot of time
at the mansion,

playing with the animals
and Hefner.

You're such a big guy.

♪ Let me love you ♪

When my brother and I came
along, my dad was older.

I think he, in his head,
wanted to try being a parent,

so, I mean,
I saw him every single day.

He was much more hands on

in the sense
of being a father.

You ready to go?

[Hugh Hefner]
Almost overnight,
the mansion went

from the world's most
famous bachelor pad

to an island of
domestic tranquility.

With my first marriage,
I knew I hadn't always

been the best husband
or father,

but having
this second chance

gave me
a new lease on life.

It was truly one of
my happiest times.

[Hugh Hefner]
Not until the baby was born
did I really realize

what an impact it could
have on my own life.

It should've been that
way the first time,

but, of course,
I just wasn't there,

emotionally or mentally.

And I think it's wonderful
to have the chance

to do it all right
the second time.

I was busy trying
to play catch up

with my other two children
after they were grown.

This time,
I don't want to miss

all the wonderful part
in between.

[Hugh Hefner]
But sadly, that
happiness did not last.

♪♪

Over time, it became clear
that Kimberley and I

weren't as compatible as I
had originally believed.

♪♪

Our marriage came to an end
after nine years.

♪♪

In the end, the most
important thing

was the boys.

Although it hadn't worked
out with me and Kimberley,

I wanted my sons near me.

[Rosenzweig]
He bought a house
next door to the mansion,

and Kimberley and the boys
grew up in that house.

This is to our new house.

Hopefully the neighbors won't
complain about our music.

[Rosenzweig]
Hefner wanted it that close

so that he could be
with the boys.

He and Kimberley had
a reasonable relationship

before the actual divorce
and even now.

[Hugh Hefner]
It wasn't easy at first,

but I soon realized

I still had
a lot of life to live.

♪♪

After years
of being settled down,

Mr. Playboy was back.

Once again,
the mansion became

the party destination

for Hollywood's
A-list celebrities.

You know
how to do it, Hugh!

[Hugh Hefner]
And, of course,

the most beautiful
women in the world.

Before I knew it,
in 2003,

Playboy had reached
another milestone...

♪♪

...our 50th anniversary.

[Hugh Hefner]
I could not have imagined,
on any kind of level,

the impact
the magazine would have,

how it would change
my life.

Who could have imagined it?

[Hugh Hefner]
But the early 2000s

brought something we could
have never expected...

♪♪

...the Internet.

♪♪

[Eisenbach]
The rise of the Internet

destroys the business
model of Playboy.

There is no way that you
can sell printed material

or even a channel

when you have to compete
with free video,

open access, and any
kind of porn you want.

♪♪

[Hugh Hefner]
But while we
couldn't compete

with what was online,
there was one new trend

that was a perfect fit
forPlayboy.

Welcome to
the Playboy Mansion.

♪♪

[Hugh Hefner]
And with reality TV
being all the rage,

I knew it could be
the perfect way

to movePlayboy
into the 21st century.

I invited the world

into the Playboy Mansion
every week

as the Playmates and I

just went about
living our lives.

You look cute.
Do you have boob glue on?

No.

You don't?

[Hugh Hefner]
It was called
The Girls Next Door.

[Teri Thomerson]
Initially with
The Girls Next Door,

there was kind of
the belief that this

was going to draw
more of a male audience.

Is anybody going
skinny-dipping?

[Thomerson]
The truth is, it actually

attracted a predominantly
female audience.

This is the original
vibrating, rotating bed

from the Chicago Mansion,
you know.

Really?
Does it still work?

[squealing]

[Thomerson]
People loved the girls.

There was something relatable
about each of them.

♪♪

[Hugh Hefner]
It lasted six seasons

and introducedPlayboy
to a whole new generation,

and it became one of
the most successful shows

in the history
of E! Network,

with over 2 million
viewers at its peak.

♪♪

Then, something
unexpected happened.

♪♪

In the final season
of the show,

I was introduced
to Crystal Harris.

She was our December 2009
Playmate of the Month

and we quickly fell
in love.

Ladies and gentlemen,
may I introduce

for the first time,
Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Hefner.

[cheers and applause]

[Hugh Hefner]
And after years of dating,

we were married
on December 31st, 2012.

[Rosenzweig]
Hef is a very romantic guy.

He adores Crystal

and they have a very,
very happy marriage,

and he is probably
more of a husband now

than he was
earlier in his life,

because he has more time
to spend with his wife

than he did with
the other two women.

♪♪

[Hugh Hefner]
My relationship
with Crystal

couldn't be more perfect,

and I'm happier today
that I've ever been.

She really is
my one true love.

♪♪

It's been over six decades

since I started a magazine
at my kitchen table,

and in the years since,
Playboy has expanded

beyond my wildest dreams.

Our updated London casino,
which opened in 2011,

is one of
the most successful

private club casinos
in the world,

and our branded products

brought in $1.5 billion
in 2016.

To this day,Playboy

is the third-most
recognizable brand

in the world,

after only Apple
and Coca-Cola.

I never
could have imagined

that the conversations
I started in 1953

would continue to this day.

♪♪

Looking back on my life,

I see so many things.

♪♪

What do you think
of this?

[laughing]

[Kretchmer]
Hefner is one of the
most underrated forces

in American life in the
second half of the 20th century.

Hefner changed the way
everybody thinks about sex.

Congratulations,
Mr. Playboy.

[laughter]

[Brett Ratner]
He took us
from '50s innocence

to '60s curiosity
to '70s revolution.

He created the sexual
revolution, in my opinion,

and should have
all the credit for that.

♪♪

[Hugh Hefner]
Cheers! To the Playboy Club!

To the Playboy Club!

[Jesse Jackson]
When most people hear
the name "Hugh Hefner,"

they think of the
magazine, the pictures,

and....and ooh-ee.

Well, Hugh Hefner
was a real, authentic,

First Amendment devotee.

To him, it really was about
the freedom of expression.

[Mike Wallace]
Police yesterday

carted two tons of
obscene magazines,

films, and photographs

to the city incinerator
and burned them.

[Bill Maher]
I am not a big fan
of censorship,

and I'm glad I was born

after the people who came
before me, like Hugh Hefner.

A lot of these people
have got a lot of arrows.

Now, I've gotten some,
but not the way they did.

We stand on
each other's shoulders.

♪♪

[Cooper Hefner]
It wasn't that his attitudes

or point of view on sex
were revolutionary.

It was his ability
to deliver the message

as well as promote
a conversation about it

that was really
revolutionary.

The magazine and the company
just became the messenger of,

these are conversations
we should be having

and these are topics we should
be thinking about a lot more.

He didn't introduce
the world to sex.

He just allowed it
to step out of the closet.

Yes, yes.
Straight down the lens.

Perfect.

I think he was confident
of what he had done,

how he had lived,
what he believed.

He's remarkably able to
weather very difficult times

because of that.

♪♪

[Hugh Hefner]
I think part of what
my pursuit of happiness

has been all about
has been an attempt

to walk a different road.

♪♪

There is no fantasy that
I have not lived out.

♪♪

If I were gonna
rewrite my life

from beginning to end,

I might change
a few punctuation marks,

but the things
that mattered

could hardly have
worked out any better.

♪♪

[woman]
♪ Every little movement♪

♪ Every motion of your hips♪

♪ I feel the compulsion♪

♪ To pull you
to my sweet lips♪

♪ Is it a black magic spell♪

♪ You put me under?♪

♪ This miracle moment♪

♪ Never let it end♪

♪ Every little movement♪

♪ Is beyond improvement♪

♪ You are the magician♪

♪ I've been wishing for
forever♪

♪ Every
little movement♪

♪ Every little movement♪♪