More “Secrets of Playboy” were aired out on Monday’s latest installment, which dove headfirst into allegations of drug use at the Playboy Mansion.
While a good deal of the hour rehashed the DEA and FBI’s investigation into Hugh Hefner’s former assistant Bobbie Arnstein and her subsequent suicide, one of Hefner’s exes, Sondra Theodore, came forward with new claims about her time as his girlfriend from 1976-1981.
“Hef pretended he wasn’t involved in any hard drug use at the mansion, but that was just a lie,” she claimed right off the bat, before talking about how popular quaaludes allegedly were at the Mansion — something Holly Madison has claimed as well in the past. Hef, however, repeatedly denied using drugs before his death.
“There was drugs everywhere,” continued Theodore, going so far as to claim one of Hef’s best friends had a dog who would frequent the mansion and “got hooked on cocaine.” She then added: “When I was his girlfriend, I was afraid to speak out. I’ve never told anybody any of this before, I was too ashamed for a lot of reasons. But, I was a drug mule for Hef.”
Sondra claimed Hef had “a drawer full of drugs” in his bedroom, to which she eventually was given a key. From there, he allegedly started sending her on runs to pick up drugs.
“The first time that Hef sent me as a mule to get the drugs — there were two brothers that came up to the house, one of the brothers sold cocaine, so Hef sent me to his house,” she explained. “He said, ‘Here’s the money, get the stuff.’ That was so easy for him, that became the norm. I picked up the stuff, brought it back to him, handed it to him and he locked it up.”
When asked how often she allegedly did runs for Hef, Theodore responded, “Countless. I’d say once a week.”
“It was wrong to take a young girl, so young, and have her do that kind of thing for him. To put a young girl in that position was so dangerous,” she continued. “I didn’t allow myself to know that that was abusive, because I was told it was in the name of love.”
She now looks at the whole situation through a different lens.
“If Hef was alive, he would be in jail and wherever he is — and I don’t think it’s a good place — I know he knows that I’m telling the truth and he’s not happy about it,” she concluded. “He’s finally been called out. Finally.”
She claimed the drugs went straight to a drawer in Hef’s bedroom which “none of us had access to,” and also said dexedrine and cocaine were common.
“Cocaine was a big deal,” she said. “I can remember at a couple of the larger parties, there was a downstairs powder room that, underneath the ornate toilet paper holder, you would light it up and there was a pile of cocaine under there. I remember asking once, ‘Where is he getting this?’ Because he doesn’t leave the property.”
In the wake of the new docuseries, Playboy issued a lengthy statement to E! — saying that the company today “is not Hugh Hefner’s Playboy.”
“We trust and validate these women and their stories and we strongly support those individuals who have come forward to share their experiences,” said the company. “As a brand with sex positivity at its core, we believe safety, security, and accountability are paramount. The most important thing we can do right now is actively listen and learn from their experiences.”
The statement further noted that more than 80 percent of its current workforce is female, adding that the company “will never be afraid to confront the parts of our legacy as a company that do not reflect our values today.”
“We are committed to our ongoing evolution as a company and to driving positive change for our communities,” the statement concluded.