The legendary founder of Playboy magazine Hugh Hefner wished to prevent his sex tapes from reaching the public eye. So he decided to make them disappear during his lifetime. But are the movies really gone?
The writer Franz Kafka once told his friend Max Brod to burn his unpublished novels and stories after his death. It is well known that Kafka’s friend did not keep his friend’s last wishes and instead went on to publish his writings. The literary world is grateful to him. What Kafka himself would have thought can only be speculated.
In any case, this example might have made many a celebrity of the 20th-century wonder. Some burned their diaries, others ordered that certain works could only be published decades after their death. But anyone who knows that his legacy can be of interest to posterity, who has famous friends and who at the same time has enough time and the opportunity to think about it, should pay the greatest attention to what remains can be found on the day of his death.
According to Hefner’s entourage, his sex tapes were thrown into the sea
Hugh Hefner died in 2017 at the age of 91. So during his lifetime, he had a lot of time to think about his estate and its implications. Who and how often and with whom he went in and out of his parties are secrets that Hefner apparently successfully took to his grave. Because the British newspaper The Sun reports from allegedly reliable sources that Hugh Hefner made his sex tapes and compromising photos disappear in time.
Allegedly, the first, biggest and probably last Playboy of the 20th and 21st centuries was worried sick that his collection of sex tapes might fall into the wrong hands. The Sun reports that the photos and tapes from the 60s and 70s show numerous famous Hollywood stars, models and celebrities having sex with Hefner or having wild party orgies with Playboy bunnies. And Hefner wanted to protect the privacy of his guests and partners beyond his death.
After the Playboy founder had put all the compromising material into a trunk, he poured cement into it and ordered that the trunk with all the secrets be sunk into the sea. According to the newspaper, the action was supervised by Joe Piastro, the long-time head of security at Playboy Mansion. Aside from that, nothing is known about it, and Piastro himself died in 2011.
Famous Hollywood stars on Hugh Hefner’s sex tapes?
The Sun quotes a close friend: “Hugh was very worried that the world could find out everything. He just had this treasure trove of memories from his life with all these beautiful women, that went back to the 50s and reached back to the mid-90s. There were numerous films that were captured on 8-millimeter films. There were also famous male movie stars, and if that had come out, there would have been a huge scandal.”
The interview partner of the Sun also said: »Marilyn was there of course and also some superstars who decorated the covers of his magazine. Some of the women had relationships with him at the time and others had nothing more to do with the magazine, they just partied with him.«
Pamela Anderson’s Sextape Leak made Hugh Hefner nervous
Apparently, in the ’90s, he got serious doubts about the safety of his collection. One of the biggest sex tape leaks of all time panicked the Hef: »What triggered this was actually the video of Pamela Anderson with Brett Michaels and then Tommy Lee. He got so upset that he became paranoid and decided to make the footage disappear.«
Hugh Hefner knew from numerous events in the past that he could trust his head of security. He ordered him to sink the box into the sea. »Hugh explained that he simply didn’t want anyone’s life, marriage or career to be destroyed by his archives. Joe obeyed and never told anyone.«
The only witness is dead – Are the tapes really gone?
But since the only witness to the event passed away in 2011, one can at least guess whether the order was actually executed or not, somewhere, there are films and photos showing the Kafka of the sexual revolution having sex with Hollywood beauties.
Such a find would certainly be worth millions and would probably fetch the highest prices at auctions. The actual estate of the greatest philanderer of the 20th century is rather meek. Pipes, bathrobes, books, first editions and art objects will soon come on the auction’s block. Part of Hugh Hefner’s estate will be auctioned in the following weeks.