PanamaTimes

Sunday, Oct 25, 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

PanamaTimes
0:00
0:00
Close
Advertising trick: Pepsi’s Harrier Jet Commercial Led to a $700,000 Court Fight
Why 2027 Could Be a Strong Year for Stocks—and Why the Forecast Is Fragile
Trump’s Top General Seeks an Exit Strategy From Iran War, Report Says
Brock Lesnar Retires From Wrestling, Closing a Career of Rare Athletic Range and Lasting Controversy
Trump-Era Policy Shifts Test the Boundaries of U.S. Institutions
Weight-Loss Drug Boom Tests the Limits of Prescription Advertising Rules
Breaking With the Past: One of the World’s Smallest Countries Changes Its Name
AI Is Remaking the US Economy, From GDP Growth to iPhone Prices
Cuba’s Grid Fails Again as Fuel Crisis Deepens
Nazca Lines Flight Crash Kills Thirteen as Peru Suspends Aerodiana
OpenAI Faces Demands for Full Disclosure After Models Breach Hugging Face
FIFA’s Private-Investment Plan for World Cup Rights Draws European Revolt
Why Americans Queue for $15 Ice Cream and a $100 Caviar Pint
OpenAI Sued After ChatGPT Allegedly Discouraged Emergency Care Before Near-Fatal Embolism
Miliband Sets Climate and International Law at Centre of UK Diplomacy
Trump Readies New Tariffs as Temporary Global Levy Nears Expiry
Morgan Stanley Builds a Wall Street Lead in AI Infrastructure Finance
High Prices Push Coffee Drinkers Toward Whole Beans and Home Brewing
Spain Defeats Argentina in Extra Time to Win Second World Cup
Venezuela’s Earthquake Devastation Turns U.S. Investment Opportunity Into a Thirty-Seven Billion Dollar Reconstruction Challenge
Ukrainian Drones Strike Wildberries Warehouses Deep Inside Russia
The Ledger Will Not Trust on Faith
Trump Administration Pressures Banks to Restrict Financial Access for Undocumented Immigrants
The Ten World Cup Finals That Defined Football History
Smartphones Are Getting More Expensive, Sales Are Collapsing, and Even Apple Admits: "Prices Will Rise"
The AI Race Enters Its Infrastructure Era
Colombia Influencer Dies After Cosmetic Procedure at Unlicensed Bogota Salon
A Quiet Bastille Day: France Grapples with World Cup Heartbreak and Leftover Fireworks
Spain in Ecstasy: "We Feel Unbeatable, We Taught the Whole World a Lesson"
On the Island That Did Not Yield to Trump, There Is No Electricity, and 10 Million Live in Darkness
World Cup Visitors Turn American Big-Box Stores Into Souvenir Stops
Anthropic Reengineers Agentic Architecture to Shift Autonomous Workplace Automation to the Cloud
Global Crisis Alert: Escalating Middle East Tensions and UK Political Upheaval
Japanese Technology Firm Fujitsu Launches Advanced Artificial Intelligence Tool for Corporate Disclosures
South Africa Officially Launches Nationwide Campaign for Highly Contested Local Government Elections
United Kingdom Commits Additional Funding for Unexploded Ordnance Clearance in Laos
Singapore Announces Stringent New Greenhouse Gas Regulations for Commercial Cooling Systems
Cambodia and Thailand Hold High-Level Border Security Talks at United Nations Headquarters
Myanmar Military Government and China Sign Major Agreement to Upgrade Media and Cultural Cooperation
Knife Attack at Swiss Train Station Leaves Three Injured in Suspected Act of Domestic Terrorism
Transnational Extortion Gang Threatens Canadian Police With Army of One Thousand Armed Operatives
Australia Imposes Forty-Two-Day Quarantine on Cruise Ship Passengers Following Deadly Hantavirus Outbreak
International Monetary Fund Unlocks Seven Hundred Million United States Dollars for Sri Lanka Following Economic Reforms
Australia Launches Record One Point Four Billion Dollar Lawsuit Against Chemical Giant 3M Over Contamination
China and Canada Foreign Ministers Meet in Ottawa in Effort to Stabilize Strained Diplomatic Ties
Indonesia Demands Urgent United Nations Security Council Reform Amid Escalating Global Conflicts
Extreme Weather Patterns Trigger Severe Drought in Madagascar and Destructive Flooding in East Africa
Indian State of Karnataka Faces Political Upheaval as Chief Minister Siddaramaiah Abruptly Resigns
Philippines and Japan Reaffirm Defense Ties as Crucial for Indo-Pacific Regional Stability
Norway Joins French Nuclear Deterrence Initiative in Major Shift for European Security Architecture
×