r/GirlsNextLevel

I watched "American Playboy: The Hugh Hefner Story" and I really enjoyed it. I found Hef to be revolutionary and daring, during a time that wasn't. And creative in his ideas and art. There isn’t really anyone that compares to him, past or present.

Obviously this documentary shared his highlights and achievements, and painted him a good light. And I know there is a lot of talk about him being a pervert and using woman. So I battle with whether I admire him or if he sucked.

Are there any things that Hef did that you found interesting or good?

I genuinely don’t understand why Holly thought it was appropriate to bring up a decades old sexual rumor about Jessica on the podcast.

One thing that has always confused me is how upset Holly was whenever Kendra discussed her personal sex life, yet she’s willing to turn around and publicly discuss another woman’s. Either it’s a serious invasion of privacy or it isn’t. I don’t think you can have it both ways.

What makes this even more inappropriate is that Holly was Jessica’s boss during the competition. Jessica was a contestant, not Holly’s peer. On top of that, Jessica was the only woman of color in a house full of women. She came there to compete, not to have rumors about her sex life become podcast material 20 years later.

I also don’t understand how Holly doesn’t see that repeating a sexual rumor and laughing about it borders on slut shaming. Even if Holly believes it was “just shaving cream” or “just a joke,” that’s exactly how people who participate in bullying often describe their own behavior they minimize it. We know Jessica was reportedly so uncomfortable that her living accommodations had to be changed. That’s not nothing.

The irony is that Holly often positions herself as someone who champions women and calls out mean girl behavior. But going on a public podcast to discuss another woman’s sex life when it wasn’t your story to tell feels like the very thing she criticizes in others.

Just because Holly still follows Jessica on Instagram or considers her an acquaintance doesn’t make it okay. If anything, it should have made her more mindful. She doesn’t know Jessica’s current life, religious beliefs, family situation, or how revisiting old sexual rumors could affect her today. That’s not information you casually put on the public record without someone’s consent.

To me, there’s a huge difference between joking privately with a very close friend who has given you permission and broadcasting someone else’s sexual history to thousands of listeners for entertainment.

I also think there’s a reason Girls Next Door never included this storyline. The show and Playboy were Jessica’s employer. Publicizing rumors about a contestant’s sex life would have been incredibly inappropriate and could have opened the door to legal and ethical issues. They didn’t make the other contestants’ private sex lives into storylines either.

More broadly, I wish Holly would apply the same standards consistently. If bullying is wrong, then it’s wrong even when the people involved are your friends or the behavior seems “mild” in hindsight. I’ve also noticed Holly has been quick to defend people like the twins or Laura Croft despite accusations of bullying, while dismissing Jessica’s experience. That inconsistency is what bothers me most.

For someone who frequently speaks about supporting women, I think discussing a former employee’s alleged sex life for podcast drama was a major lapse in judgment. It wasn’t her story to tell, and I don’t see how that aligns with the values she says she believes in.

One thing I'll give Crystal McCahill credit for is that, while I personally found the interview pretty boring and awkward overall, she absolutely hit the nail on the head when she pointed out how inappropriate it was to spread rumors about Jessica's sex life.

This wasn't Holly's story to tell, and it wasn't "drama" for the show or for the podcast. It was another woman's private life. I honestly think Holly has a blind spot when it comes to recognizing when something crosses the line from commentary into unnecessarily exposing someone else's personal business.

Low key, I think Holly should apologize. Regardless of whether she intended it to be funny or harmless, publicly revisiting someone else's alleged sex life without their consent was inappropriate. Sometimes the right thing to do is simply acknowledge that you misjudged the situation and move on.

I’m from the UK and in 2009/2010/2011 I was a HUGE Holly fan! My then partner treated me to Peepshow tickets a couple of times and I did meet and greet in 2010…she was very sweet, took pictures etc. we were also staying in planet Hollywood where she lived. The next day, she got in the lift with Napoleon (her dog) with us. It was super awkward, so I just asked if I could pet napoleon, because she clearly didn’t want to interact which I respect, she wasn’t working. Anyway, I go on twitter about 2 hours later and she’s posted something like “why do people always act like they’ve never seen a dog before when they see me?” Odd…

i’m on season two and hanks best friend Travelle is driving me crazy i would love to hear other peoples thoughts on this show. I can sense the red flags a mile away from hank like ugh.

This may be a silly question but do you get accesses, to the backlog of content on the cheaper pateron teir?