Hugh Hefner’s teenage sons talk multiple girlfriends, taking over mag


There’s a new profile in Playboy of Hugh Hefner’s teenage sons, Marston, 18, and Cooper, 17. The boys live with their mother, 44 year-old former Playmate of the Year Kimberley Conrad, in a house on the grounds of the Playboy estate but separated by about 100 yards and by large hedges from the mansion. Conrad and Hefner split up in 1998 after 9 years of marriage, but are technically still married as Conrad refused to grant Hef a divorce.*

The older son, Marston, was also featured in an interview with his dad in the June, 2008 issue of GQ. Christie Hefner, Hugh’s 56 year-old daughter from a previous marriage, has announced plans to resign as CEO of Playboy Enterprises on January 31, 2009. Director Jerome Kern is going to serve as “interim non-executive chairman” as a replacement is located for Christie. Judging from all this press it’s starting to look like Hef’s sons will take over the empire once they’re old enough.

Marston comes across as a thoughtful, smart young guy. He cares about world affairs and tells GQ he reads Newsweek, Time and The New Yorker. His ideal woman is someone he can talk to as he’s been around perfect beauties all his life. As his mom explains it, “It’s like working at Krispy Kreme – you don’t eat all the doughnuts.”

Younger brother Cooper has more of his dad’s enthusiasm for women. He says he’s dated a few women at one time and his mom has had to talk to him about it:

“I’m not going to have multiple girlfriends — not at the same time,” 18-year-old Marston Hefner says in the January issue of Playboy “I can’t imagine that.”

His brother, 17-year-old Cooper Hefner, begs to differ.

“I can imagine doing that. I don’t think it’s an odd thing to do,” he says. “You date around to try to find a connection with some girl.”

Cooper admits he’s “already gotten in trouble” and had the “revolving-door conversation” with his mother, former Playmate Kimberley Conrad.

“One girl comes in the front door while the other one gets pushed out the back,” Cooper says, adding that his mother has told him, “‘We do not have a revolving door in this house!’

“She’s all about one girlfriend at a time,” he says….

So do the boys ever want to run Playboy one day?

“I definitely want to be involved with the company,” Cooper says. “If I were to take over the company or have a say in what’s going on, I’d want the girls to be presented more as they were in the pictorials back in the 1950s and 1960s -— kind of artsy, classy. I would like to bring back that retro-class feel.”‘

[From US Weekly]

Marston also has a vision for Playboy’s future that involves a change of direction for the men’s magazine. He says that it should be more multicultural and intelligent, which is much like his ideal girlfriend:

Okay, let’s say you were to take over the business one day. Have you given any thought to how you would change it?

“As far as the nudity goes, I don’t think I would change a lot, except maybe make the pictures cool and artsy instead of some really obvious setting. It’s usually, like, cowgirl. You know what I mean? I’d do something tight, like a painted body on a crazy art canvas. I’d want to make it cool again. Not like now, where it’s some cheesy saying and then a Playboy Bunny on a T-shirt.”

What about the Playboy aesthetic?

“I’d make it much more multicultural and diverse. Not so many blonds. I’d mix it up. Just how my dad has his taste, I have my taste.”

Your dad, I say, he’s a man with a specific…type. I’d say: blond. I’d say: surgically augmented. I’d say: not exuding a tremendous amount of (outward) intellectual ambition. How different are your tastes?

“The ones I find attractive are brunet, blue eyes, and that’s about it. An intelligent woman that I can have a conversation with.… That centerfold in the magazine probably wouldn’t be my girlfriend, because I wouldn’t find her attractive. I don’t care about fake boobs if the girl has a good personality, but most girls with fake boobs I don’t find attractive—because of why they got the fake boobs in the first place.”

[From GQ]

Marston told GQ writer Steven Hurst when he asked specifically about it that he’s never really sought out the mansion during parties or tried to catch people getting naughty on the grounds because “It’s my house. Just knowing people are having sex at my house is uncomfortable.”

Marston plans to go to college, he hadn’t decided where when he spoke to GQ, and Cooper is reaching the age where he’ll soon do the same. It may be a few years until we see a more artsy, classier version of Playboy.

[Much thanks to my twitter and Facebook friends who helped with this story: Busy Bee Blogger, Agent Bedhead, Kimberly, and Cherlee.]

*While Wikipedia lists their year of separation as 1999, a recent article in GQ has it as 1998. Photo credit: Playboy.com

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34 Responses to “Hugh Hefner’s teenage sons talk multiple girlfriends, taking over mag”

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  1. Anna says:

    Very cool. Who would have thought the next generation would like to bring about such smart changes? Personally, I think the magazine could only profit from more diversity. It’s been enough already with the bottle blondes and fake tatas for a long time. An overhaul is long overdue!

    I find Marston very smart. It takes a lot to grow up to be so different and independent from a father like Hugh Hefner. Now if only Paris Hilton could take heed. You can be an heir to a multimillion dollar industry and still have class and intelligence!

  2. Tanya says:

    Bring on the Boys already. Playboy needs young blood, who better than The Heirs To The Throne. Good looking guys, that ebrace change, freshness and intelligence, in all aspects. Love what they have to say, can’t wait. PS: I am abrown eyed bottle blonde, with real tattas!

  3. J Re says:

    Artsy’s been done. Hell, there’s already a thousand internet sites dedicated to “artistic nudes.” Body paint? Ooh, nobody’s ever tried that before!

    What I’d like to see a return to: cute. Things along the line of the classic pin-ups and Japanese ecchi. Something where the theme of the image is fun and the action involves something besides “look at me, I’m posing for the camera in various settings!”

    And for chrissake, models and photographers, have some damn facial expressions besides braindead beauty queen, dead-eyed model and moaning porn star.

    Finally, the “multicultural” comment is like a desperately failing company declaring that it will embrace “diversity.”

  4. Yourself says:

    Those outfits are ill advised. I brought their dad’s empire was broke.

  5. HEB says:

    Yeah it can be tough to determine when they separated because I believe she physically ‘stormed out’ right before the mansion’s big New Years Eve Party in 1998, so then they weren’t really able to discuss it and call it a separation until she got back a few weeks later in 1999.

    Marston sounds like he has a good head on his shoulders and I’m sure his father is very proud of him. To me it seems like Marston is pre-Playboy Hef, who was married and more traditional, and Cooper is post-Playboy sucess Hef-the one who loves to have fun with multiple girlfriends.

  6. Dirty Martini says:

    With all the free porn on the internet, do people really still buy Playboy? Who knew? :mrgreen:

    Maybe they really are reading the articles……

  7. Aspen says:

    Wow…they both look so much like him. It’s uncanny, really. Must be dominant genes.

  8. vdantev says:

    Look like two of the uglier Jonas Brothers.

  9. Daniel says:

    heffner’s daughter runs the magazine and there is no way in heck that she would ever give that up so its wishful thinking that these “boys” would ever be involved in it. She’s probably pretty pissed off to by their statements that they might run it too! lol!

    Along with the internet and other media playboy is more than just the magazine and these guys obviously dont have a clue about any of the workings of the company.

  10. Codzilla says:

    They must have their mom’s pre-surgery traits. Because Hef was quite handsome in his day, and these two …. aren’t.

  11. disgusted says:

    Christie Hefner stepped down as head of the company in the past few weeks. Plus, these boys are still 17 and 18 – I’m sure they will be learning more about the company now that they are of age. I was actually surprised and impressed by how mature they sound. Their parents have kept them grounded (I would guess that it is their mother’s influence)

  12. LeOne says:

    I think it’s good that they’re thinking of revamping the old tradition of the magazine.. i’ll tune in to see if they do…
    Note to Celebitchy: I love your blog, but have one small technical suggestion: could you make it so that when you open a link from the main page it opens up in a new tab? I do it manually (control+T), but i’ve seen it done in other blogs, and it’s really practical.. 😉

  13. yo mamma says:

    Daniel. You might want to read the news. The big sister already resigned. Her last day is in January. These boys will be running the show in a matter of years.

  14. Baholicious says:

    Playboy is a relic so an infusion of anything new is a step in the right direction.

  15. Rosebudd says:

    When it is said that Kimberly would not grant a divorce, that has to be their personal arrangement because anybody in Calif. can get a divorce regardless. That is an antiquated fact. Hef could have filed and been granted. period. I think he likes that arrangement…It seems these young men have been raised well w/ class. Apparently, their blonde, fake boob mama had a lot more going on than being an “airhead”. I’m glad to see they will go to college & not rest on their laurels. Too many rich kids dont’t go & my husband & I bust our ass so ours can go. Hell, if you have the money, go for it!

  16. HEB says:

    I agree with you Rosebudd, I think he prefers it that way.

  17. Shane says:

    What incredible boys. Hats off to their mother for doing a fine job.

    Utterly amazing considering the WHERE they were raised.

  18. Ah . . . family values . . .

    I’d love to see Playboy take a new, artistic and socially progressive viewpoint. I mean, why exploit just the blond bimbos when there are thousands of perfectly proportioned females vying to help you sell your magazine?

    Naw, I’d be pleased to see something new. My father-in-law is an avid collector (keeps the new ones in the bathroom 🙄 ), and I personally would enjoy seeing his views of beauty standards challenged in his old age. This article totally gives me fodder for a great dinner conversation this holiday!

  19. Codzilla says:

    Jaundice: 😆 at your father-in-law keeping his new mags in the bathroom! Priceless.

  20. mel says:

    well i guess they both got beat with the ugly stick. good thing their daddy is rich.

  21. Leni says:

    They both look like dorks. They after all still little boys so I should not be so judgemental:-)
    I agree that the “marriage” is still on only because it is convenient for them both.
    I do not think Hefner was ever attractive. Well dressed and well groomed,yes. Mother is generic pretty, so I suppose they are as expected.

  22. dovesgate says:

    Playboy taught me how to correctly sew a button onto a shirt.

    Thats all I really have to add since I don’t know anyone anymore who reads them.

  23. ER says:

    Somehow I thought they’d be more attractive. They seem level headed though!

  24. busybee says:

    To answer the question, I buy Playboy and read the articles. I am so happy there’s a brunette for the 55th anniversary!!!

    heeehee

  25. MomInNH says:

    Playboy also taught me how to correctly sew a button, tell a well timed joke and many other useful and practical things. I really and truly read the magazine for the articles. I could care less about the centerfolds. Fake boobs don’t do it for me. But the articles and the jokes, that’s what I tune in for.

    For the record I am a woman and I do have a subscription and have since I was 20 years old.

  26. Di says:

    I think these are two cute regular looking teenage boys. I respect the fact that they don’t look like over-processed California brats. Hef was never conventionally handsome. He was just charismatic and very intelligent. I think these boys will develop that quality as well. I think they will also end up being better looking than their dad as they get older.

    Little Marston’s perceptions about women are more mature than some 40 year old men I know.

    The fact that an 18-year old boy is even thinking about WHY a woman has implants rather than what they look like is rather stunning and impressive to me. Most grown men don’t even consider that question. I’m hoping he takes over.

  27. Christina X says:

    Translation: “By diversity, we mean we want more models with the same body type, the same poses, and the same faces, but with 25 studs in their faces or rainbow colored hair.”

    Nothing to see here.

  28. Ling says:

    I find it hilarious that, even after Marston’s “The Sadder but Wiser Girl for Me” monologue, people are still hung up on the boys’ looks.

    Well, in my opinion, they’re both quite handsome. Though Cooper seems like a brat.

  29. LondonParis says:

    I see nothing but a young Hugh Hefner when I look at Marston. It’s almost eerie. 😯

  30. SixxKitty says:

    I have ‘assumed’ for years that they never divorced so the boys were ‘Guaranteed’ to inherit, no matter what. Kimberley has shown that her children are what she is focused on from when they were babies and she made all the ‘mates and bunnies wear bottoms. I remember the home movie scenes with them as toddlers playing in the mansion halls, and driving electric cars on the tennis courts. Hef is by no means a stupid man, he is insuring nothing is left to chance.

  31. manda says:

    They probably haven’t divorced because they probably didn’t sign a prenup, which would mean that Kim would be entitled to half of everything Hef has in his name. CA is a community property state. And I’m sure Hef has a will, so divorcing his wife would have nothing to do with whether his kids inherit from him. And he could write his kids out of his will, if he so desires. You can leave your stuff to anyone you want to, as long as you write it or film it or somehow leave something behind that people can find after you die so they know what your wishes are.

  32. michele says:

    I don’t know much about their mom, but it sounds to me like they were raised decently and that Marston seems mature about womenm, especially for his age. Maybe their mom has some brains after all. They are not cute, but at least they are intelligent, albeit Cooper sounds like a ho.

    I imagine since Christi Hefner is leaving Playboy next month, the sons will take over the magazine after college, if it is still in business!

  33. so what? says:

    Playboy is insignificant, has been for years. There was a time when it was socially groundbreaking; those days are long gone, and now it’s just a glorified skin rag. These two won’t bring anything of value to the table, just catering to the frat boy set to try to prop up dismal sales and a diminished brand name. It’s time to take Playboy out to the field and put a bullet in its head.

  34. Christina X says:

    So what, excellent post.