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Starlets Who Have Graced the Cover of Playboy

Annie Scudder — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 13:25:50 PDT

Word on the street is Lindsay Lohan will soon grace the cover of Playboy for a cool $1 million. And now her mother, Dina Lohan, has confirmed that Lindsay has posed for the racy mag, saying, "the photo shoot went well." Considering her current legal troubles, some will question if a nude photo shoot is the best move for Lindsay's image, but she's not the only high-profile starlet to strip for Hugh Hefner. Actresses including Sharon Stone, Shannen Doherty, and Drew Barrymore have posed for Playboy, as have reality stars Heidi Montag and Kim Kardashian. See 15 famous women and their Playboy covers now.

Kendra Shares Her Journey From Playboy to Motherhood

Annie Scudder — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 14:00:29 PDT

Kendra Wilkinson has had quite the career evolution. She's gone from druggie stripper to Playboy Playmate to a reality star with a loving family; it's one modern version of settling down. In her book, Being Kendra: Cribs, Cocktails, and Getting My Sexy Back, out tomorrow, the former girl next door opens up about this transition. And while she found happiness with her new family, Kendra also struggled with postpartum depression. She talks about her personal battle and how she overcame it in the memoir, and gave us a taste of it this morning on Today, explaining that she's much more than a former playmate. Check out the clip below, and weigh in: do you think she's been misunderstood? Would you read her book?

The Playboy Club Is Making a Comeback in More Ways Than One

Annie Scudder — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 02:00:04 PDT

Octogenarian Hugh Hefner shows no signs of slowing down, and neither does the Playboy Club brand he introduced 51 years ago. The club Gloria Steinem calls "one of the tackiest places on earth" has made its way back into the public consciousness first as a cameo in Mad Men and now thanks to a new NBC show about its prime in 1960s Chicago.

Now Playboy has plans to get in on the nostalgia by opening a Chicago Playboy Club down the street from the original, which shut down two decades ago. It will likely open sometime next year.

The Playboy-style objectification is already alive and well at Playboy Clubs in London, Las Vegas, and Cancun. Whilewe would never call the job of a bunny inherently empowering, when you compare the concept to modern strip clubs, the retro joints almost seem modest. Let's just hope that they don't require pelvic exams and STD screenings as they did when Gloria Steinem went undercover as a bunny in 1963. See some vintage photos now of the Playboy Club.

Gloria Steinem Takes On The Playboy Club Once Again

Annie Scudder — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 13:11:52 PDT

Gloria Steinem must be experiencing a serious case of déja vu. Forty-eight years after she went undercover as a Playboy Bunny and wrote an infamous exposé revealing the club's "underpaid waitresses in too-high heels" with few work options had to undergo pelvic exams and STD screenings among other things, she's laying bare the exploitation she saw all over again in part thanks to the new NBC show The Playboy Club. Steinem is calling for a boycott of the show, which she fears will glamorize "one of the tackiest places on earth."

In a new interview, Steinem told Reuters that while she considers Mad Men a net positive because it presents the '60s with some realism, she expects 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." While we've come a long way since the '60s, Steinem thinks glamorizing the sexist aspects of the era can have negative consequences today. In her opinion, the show "normalizes a passive dominant idea of gender. So it normalizes prostitution and male dominance."

Last week the show's star Amber Heard said she thinks it is "empowering." Amber said, "This is about choice, ultimately. It was a different generation, there were different opportunities and different expectations for women . . . It's chauvinistic to deny a woman her sexuality. If they are making the choice, then they're not being exploited." Other network officials called it "all about empowering these women to be whatever they want to be" and a "really funny soap opera." With nostalgic distance, it's impossible not to look back and see the past as more glamorous than it was. But if the makers of the show want to give it some historical accuracy too, they need only consult Gloria's original piece.

The Playboy Club Cast Says Being a Bunny Was Empowering

Tara Sharp — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 13:51:00 PDT

NBC's The Playboy Club is debuting this Fall, and the show centers on bunnies at a Playboy Club in '60s Chicago (the city where the first Playboy Club opened in 1960). Taking a cue from Mad Men and its own Playboy Club connection, the show glamorizes the scantily clad bunnies and the male-centered time period they lived in. The cast has been well-prepped on defending the show from critics who hear Playboy and think centerfold, with leading lady Amber Heard saying this at the Summer TCAs:

"Maureen by no means relies on any character, male or female, as you'll see throughout her journey, and it's empowering. This is about choice, ultimately. It was a different generation, there were different opportunities and different expectations for women . . . It's chauvinistic to deny a woman her sexuality. If they are making the choice, then they're not being exploited."

I'm sorry, but while the bunnies at these clubs kept their clothes on, serving groping men while dressed in a sexed-up bunny suit wasn't about female empowerment, and it's definitely a leap to describe it as "chauvinistic" to say otherwise. These women were doing what they had to do to get by; they weren't celebrating their sexuality.

Gloria Steinem recently opened up in Interview magazine about going undercover as a bunny at a Playboy Club in 1963 and the exposé that followed. She said, ". . . I identified with all the women who ended up an underpaid waitress in too-high heels and a costume that was too tight to breathe in. Most were just trying to make a living and had no other way of doing it. I'd made up a background as a secretary, and the woman who interviewed me asked, 'Honey, if you can type, why would you want to work here?'"

Now I haven't seen the show yet, but from the commercials and the cast and creator's descriptions that include words like "fantastic and imaginative," "nostalgia," and "fantasy world," I don't imagine the hard realities of why these women worked in bunny ears will be examined, while the glamorous costumes and classic music will sugarcoat the era.

What do you think? Do shows like The Playboy Club and the upcoming '60s-stewardess-centered drama Pan Am idealize and glamorize women's objectified past? Or is it just harmless nostalgia looking at how far we've come?

James Franco Finally Talks Oscars - Makes Sense or Poor Excuses?

PopSugar — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 13:27:52 PDT

James Franco sat down for an interview with Playboy for its upcoming issue, and the actor had a lot to say about his Oscars hosting experience. He hasn't opened up about the criticism that his performance received until now, though his cohost, Anne Hathaway, recently shared her thoughts on the experience in Harper's Bazaar, saying, "In the grand scheme of things, I got to have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity." James had this to say:

"As far as having low energy or seeming as though I wasn't into it or was too cool for it, I thought, okay, Anne is going the enthusiastic route. I've been trained as an actor to respond to circumstances, to the people I'm working with, and not to force anything. So I thought I would be the straight man and she could be the other, and that's how I was trying to do those lines. I felt kind of trapped in that material. I felt, This is not my boat. I'm just a passenger, but I'm going down and there's no way out."

So tell us what you think: does James's explanation make sense or is he just giving poor excuses for his performance?

When a Couple Breaks Up Before They Marry, Who Should Keep the Ring?

Emily Co — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 10:47:27 PDT

In the latest Hollywood breakup news, 85-year-old Hugh Hefner has been jilted at the altar by his 25-year-old bride, Crystal Harris. Both parties claim to coping well; Hefner has tweeted that he's "happy to be single," and Crystal took to partying in Vegas on the day of the canceled wedding. Hefner's former fiancée might have had something to celebrate - she apparently got to keep the $90,000 three-carat diamond ring that the Playboy mogul proposed to her with, and a Bentley that he had given her.

There are so many things involved in the decision to give back the ring, such as who broke it off and traditional etiquette rules. If you're going by the legal system, you'll have to factor in where you live. In conditional gift states, which include New York and Michigan, the ring needs to be returned if there is no marriage. In an implied conditional state like California, it depends on who breaks off the engagement, and in an unconditional gift state like Montana, the ring does not have to be returned.

What's your take on this - if a couple doesn't end up getting married, who gets to keep the engagement bling?

Hugh Hefner's Playmate Love Interests

Tara Sharp — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 04:00:16 PDT

Yesterday, just days before what would have been his third wedding, 85-year-old Hugh Hefner tweeted that his 60-years-younger fiancée, Crystal Harris, called off the big day because she had "a change of heart." You gotta feel a little bad for Hef, being practically left at the alter, but I'm pretty sure he'll bounce back. After all, Crystal isn't the first young Playboy Playmate Hef has been romantically linked to, and I'm sure she won't be the last. Since his divorce from first wife, Mildred Williams, in 1959, the magazine mogul has been with many well-endowed lady friends, sometimes two or more at a time! See some of the Playmates Hef has been paired up with over the past five decades.

Justin Timberlake Defends Britney and Says He's Not the Friends-With-Benefits Type in Playboy

Lindsay Miller — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 13:27:00 PDT

Justin Timberlake opened up in the latest issue of Playboy about his Summer movies, Bad Teacher and Friends With Benefits, and his past and present loves. JT has been linked to sexy starlets from Olivia Wilde to Mila Kunis since his split from Jessica Biel a few months ago. He seems to be staying single for now, but Justin explained to the magazine that it's almost easier for him to date fellow famous people despite the attention and press that goes along with it. The former boy-band leader seemed at ease talking about his early life and career, including his days as a teen heartthrob and ex Britney Spears. JT even admitted to smoking pot and also shared sweet sentiments that revealed why he's really a romantic at heart. Justin Timberlake told Playboy:

On the viral video comparing Britney's old performances to her new ones: "The Internet is a cruel place. What a f*cked-up thing to do. I don’t have too much to say about her situation. I can’t remember the last conversation I had with her. But this thing that happens online bothers me - these anonymous commenters. People think they can say anything, and it doesn’t matter to people. I’d love to see the people who comment about Britney online say those things to her face, because they couldn’t. Also, in Britney’s defense, if you pulled up a video I did from 2003, I couldn’t do the sh*t I did then either."
On whether it would just be easier to date a nonceleb: "Technically, I guess. But you can’t help who you have feelings for. If you turn it off because someone is famous, then you’re being unfair to yourself. You could walk down each of those roads and find pros and cons. The girl from the dry cleaners is not going to understand how I feel about the work schedule and pressures I have. You probably gravitate toward people who understand your scenario. At the end of the day, you just want someone who gets you, who can be a friend. That’s kind of the point of Friends With Benefits. As corny as it sounds, the 'friends' part counts just as much as the 'benefits' part, if not more."
On if he thinks casual hookups between friends can work: "God, I’m the worst person to ask about that. I don’t know. I don’t think I’ve ever had that type of relationship. I get hooked on every level when I get close to someone. If you build enough chemistry to want to be intimate like that, someone’s going to catch feelings, and usually it happens quickly."

Link Time - Pippa Middleton Inspires Naughty Behavior

TresSugar — Mon, 16 May 2011 13:20:56 PDT

Pippa Middleton's posterior causes vandalism - The Frisky
10 uplifting books for lonely souls - Flavorwire
Sex breeds insecurity? - College Candy
When working out makes you horny - Glamour
In praise of the quickie - Em & Lo
"How I met my wife online" - YourTango
When optimists end up with pessimists - Huffington Post
15 iconic hairstyles from the 1960s - BellaSugar
Understanding the five stages of relationships - Betty Confidential