London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Jan 27, 2026

‘Depraved’ Playboy founder accused of bestiality and grooming

‘Depraved’ Playboy founder accused of bestiality and grooming

Even Bill Cosby's name showed up in the explosive documentary, which paints Hugh Hefner as a predator

Playboy founder Hugh Hefner may have passed on in 2017 at the age of 91, but there are still plenty of people with much to say about the man, evidenced in a new documentary in which he is accused of everything from sexual assault to bestiality.

The 10-part A&E documentary series titled ‘Secrets of Playboy’, which premieres on Monday night, features many figures from Hefner’s life, including former Playmate models, as well as ex-girlfriend Sondra Theodore, who described the infamous cigar-smoking, pajama-wearing media mogul as a “predator” who groomed young women.

Theodore herself said she began dating Hefner when he was 50 and she was 19. She said he plied her with alcohol when she was under the legal age and later introduced her to drugs.

Perhaps the most shocking claim is Hefner’s supposed preference later in life for the company of animals.

“I walked in on him with my dog and I said, ‘What are you doing?’ I was shocked,” Theodore told the New York Post, claiming she caught Hefner performing a sexual act with the animal. “He made it seem like it was just a one-time thing, and that he was just goofing off. But I never left him alone with my dog again.”

Another woman claimed that adult film actress Linda Lovelace was coaxed with drugs by Hefner and other men to perform a sexual act on a dog at a party. That incident was recalled by former Playboy employee PJ Masten, who was for many years in charge of the Playmate models.

“She was drunk and drugged…They got her so messed up that they made her give the German Shepherd oral sex. You wanna talk about depravity? This is despicable,” Masten said.

Hefner also apparently had a penchant for snuff films and he was accused of filming sexual acts without consent, drugging woman and coercing them into sexual encounters.

Masten also accused Hefner’s “good friend” Bill Cosby of assaulting her. Cosby has been accused of sexual assault by numerous women whose stories cover the span of most of his career.

Former associates of Hefner claim he used the Playboy Mansion as a way to gather dirt on celebrities, models, and even law enforcement in an attempt to keep his alleged misconduct hidden from public view.

In a public statement responding to the documentary earlier this month, Playboy acknowledged there are “elements” of the company’s past they find “unworthy of our principles.” They added that the Hefner family is “no longer associated with Playboy.”

Hugh Hefner’s son, Cooper, has meanwhile defended his father, saying this week on Twitter that Hugh Hefner “was not a liar” and chalked up “salacious stories” about him as “regret becoming revenge.”


 


Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France Plans to Replace Teams and Zoom Across Government With Homegrown Visio by 2027
Trump Removes Minneapolis Deportation Operation Commander After Fatal Shooting of Protester
Iran’s Elite Wealth Abroad and Sanctions Leakage: How Offshore Luxury Sustains Regime Resilience
U.S. Central Command Announces Regional Air Exercise as Iran Unveils Drone Carrier Footage
Four Arrested in Andhra Pradesh Over Alleged HIV-Contaminated Injection Attack on Doctor
Hot Drinks, Hidden Particles: How Disposable Cups Quietly Increase Microplastic Exposure
UK Banks Pledge £11 Billion Lending Package to Help Firms Expand Overseas
Suella Braverman Defects to Reform UK, Accusing Conservatives of Betrayal on Core Policies
Melania Trump Documentary Sees Limited Box Office Traction in UK Cinemas
Meta and EssilorLuxottica Ray-Ban Smart Glasses and the Non-Consensual Public Recording Economy
WhatsApp Develops New Meta AI Features to Enhance User Control
Germany Considers Gold Reserves Amidst Rising Tensions with the U.S.
Michael Schumacher Shows Significant Improvement in Health Status
Greenland’s NATO Stress Test: Coercion, Credibility, and the New Arctic Bargaining Game
Diego Garcia and the Chagos Dispute: When Decolonization Collides With Alliance Power
Trump Claims “Total” U.S. Access to Greenland as NATO Weighs Arctic Basing Rights and Deterrence
Air France and KLM Suspend Multiple Middle East Routes as Regional Tensions Disrupt Aviation
U.S. winter storm triggers 13,000-plus flight cancellations and 160,000 power outages
Poland delays euro adoption as Domański cites $1tn economy and zloty advantage
White House: Trump warns Canada of 100% tariff if Carney finalizes China trade deal
PLA opens CMC probe of Zhang Youxia, Liu Zhenli over Xi authority and discipline violations
ICE and DHS immigration raids in Minneapolis: the use-of-force accountability crisis in mass deportation enforcement
UK’s Starmer and Trump Agree on Urgent Need to Bolster Arctic Security
Starmer Breaks Diplomatic Restraint With Firm Rebuke of Trump, Seizing Chance to Advocate for Europe
UK Finance Minister Reeves to Join Starmer on China Visit to Bolster Trade and Economic Ties
Prince Harry Says Sacrifices of NATO Forces in Afghanistan Deserve ‘Respect’ After Trump Remarks
Barron Trump Emerges as Key Remote Witness in UK Assault and Rape Trial
Nigel Farage Attended Davos 2026 Using HP Trust Delegate Pass Linked to Sasan Ghandehari
Gold Jumps More Than 8% in a Week as the Dollar Slides Amid Greenland Tariff Dispute
BlackRock Executive Rick Rieder Emerges as Leading Contender to Succeed Jerome Powell as Fed Chair
Boston Dynamics Atlas humanoid robot and LG CLOiD home robot: the platform lock-in fight to control Physical AI
United States under President Donald Trump completes withdrawal from the World Health Organization: health sovereignty versus global outbreak early-warning access
FBI and U.S. prosecutors vs Ryan Wedding’s transnational cocaine-smuggling network: the fight over witness-killing and cross-border enforcement
Trump Administration’s Iran Military Buildup and Sanctions Campaign Puts Deterrence Credibility on the Line
Apple and OpenAI Chase Screenless AI Wearables as the Post-iPhone Interface Battle Heats Up
Tech Brief: AI Compute, Chips, and Platform Power Moves Driving Today’s Market Narrative
NATO’s Stress Test Under Trump: Alliance Credibility, Burden-Sharing, and the Fight Over Strategic Territory
OpenAI’s Money Problem: Explosive Growth, Even Faster Costs, and a Race to Stay Ahead
Trump Reverses Course and Criticises UK-Mauritius Chagos Islands Agreement
Elizabeth Hurley Tells UK Court of ‘Brutal’ Invasion of Privacy in Phone Hacking Case
UK Bond Yields Climb as Report Fuels Speculation Over Andy Burnham’s Return to Parliament
America’s Venezuela Oil Grip Meets China’s Demand: Market Power, Legal Shockwaves, and the New Rules of Energy Leverage
TikTok’s U.S. Escape Plan: National Security Firewall or Political Theater With a Price Tag?
Trump’s Board of Peace: Breakthrough Diplomacy or a Hostile Takeover of Global Order?
Trump’s Board of Peace: Breakthrough Diplomacy or a Hostile Takeover of Global Order?
The Greenland Gambit: Economic Genius or Political Farce?
The Greenland Gambit: Economic Genius or Political Farce?
The Greenland Gambit: Economic Genius or Political Farce?
Will AI Finally Make Blue-Collar Workers Rich—or Is This Just Elite Tech Spin?
Prince William to Make Official Visit to Saudi Arabia in February
×