Hugh Hefner

Cooper and Marston Hefner, sons of the late Playboy mogul Hugh Hefner, have dismissed a disturbing claim by their father’s widow, Crystal Hefner, that his scrapbooks contain photographs of underage girls.

The brothers, whose mother is Hefner’s second wife, Kimberley Conrad, said in a statement to News that they “have personally reviewed these materials extensively over many years, as have numerous historians, filmmakers and journalists, including those who have celebrated and critically examined his life’s work.”

“Over more than a quarter century of familiarity with these materials, we have never seen inappropriate images of minors, as has been suggested,” they said Wednesday. “The scrapbooks document decades of personal, professional and family history. Our father lived much of his life publicly and assembled these materials as a historical record, with the intention that they ultimately be preserved and reviewed in their full context, not hidden or obscured.”

“We believe claims of this magnitude should be supported by evidence and accuracy, not evidence-free implications,” they added. “We support the preservation of scrapbooks in collaboration with a university or museum, along with responsible public access consistent with their long-standing wishes.”

Denise Truscello via Getty Images

On Tuesday, Crystal Hefner, who was married to the Playboy founder from 2012 until his death in 2017, said at a news conference that she is “deeply concerned” about the release of Hugh Hefner’s scrapbooks and diaries because they contain images of naked women taken without their consent, and even images of underage girls. Gloria Allred, his attorney, said at the news conference that the diaries are filled with descriptions of his sexual exploits, specific sexual acts and his efforts to track women’s menstrual cycles.

After this story was published on Thursday, Crystal Hefner wrote in response on her Instagram that she did not consent to the “public distribution or public access” of photos taken of her “privately.” He added that he has seen the images in scrapbooks and maintains that there are “sexually explicit” images of “very young looking girls.”

“Cooper and Marston can rest easy knowing that their nude images are not there,” Crystal Hefner said. “They can put their own naked bodies in a museum, not ours.”

During Tuesday’s news conference, Allred and Crystal Hefner did not show any of the images or diary entries, but said they filed regulatory complaints with the California and Illinois attorneys general’ offices, requesting an investigation into the Hugh M. Hefner Foundation’s collection of scrapbooks and diaries. California’s attorney general did not respond to News’s request for comment; A spokesperson for the Illinois attorney general said the office had received the complaint and is reviewing it.

Crystal Hefner said that after raising concerns about the scrapbooks and diaries, she was removed as executive director of the Hugh M. Hefner Foundation. The foundation did not respond to a request for comment.

Founded in 1964, the Hugh M. Hefner Foundation “supports and funds today’s pioneers who defend civil rights and liberties, with special emphasis on First Amendment rights and rational sex and drug policies,” according to its website.

Crystal Hefner said at the news conference that the “hypocrisy” of the foundation’s mission statement is as “disturbing as it is obvious.”