As you may have heard by now, Hugh Hefner died on Wednesday, September 27 at the age of 91. It goes without saying that Hefner lived an incredible life. At a time when nudity was extremely taboo, he took $600 of his own money and $1000 borrowed from his mother and launched a magazine that proudly displayed photos of naked women. A magazine that would eventually inspire the sexual revolution of the 1960s and 70s, almost single-handedly. And over time, Hefner and Playboy evolved into so much more than nudity. Over the decades, Playboy became a staunch advocate of freedom of speech, minority rights, female rights and the rights of the LGBTQ community.
Hefner was also an amazing host of countless parties. And I actually know this from personal experience.
Back in June 2008, I was working for a website called HolyTaco. For some reason, Playboy invited me and my co-editor Justin to a party that was being thrown at the mansion. It was an open-bar party that featured tons of extremely famous people and Brendan Fraser. That night I met Katy Perry, Seth MacFarlane, McLovin, Jeremy Piven… just to name a few. I also got to meet Hef. Actually I got to interview him briefly on a red carpet lineup they had for nerdy press people like me. When it was my turn to ask Hef a question, here's what I came up with:
"So Hugh, you've lived a life that most men would kill for. You are easily one of the most admirable men of all time. Who are some men you admire?"
His reply:
"Everyone I admire is dead."
And then he kind of shuffled away. Whelp see you later. Here's a pic of him shuffling to the next person (I'm the goofy guy in the foreground with the recording device):
Ok so my interview wasn't exactly a resounding success, but once it was done we could stop working and start enjoying ourselves and the open bar. I changed clothes and hit the bar.
Here's a photo of me with a couple of bunnies:
Here's a photo of McLovin:
Here's a photo me after like 8 drinks giving the double middle fingers to my friend Matt who was also at the party:
Here's a photo of me 10 drinks deep enjoying an amazing chicken nugget AND realizing that the Playboy mansion wifi network was open and called "Bunnies":
And finally, here's a photo of me after like 16 drinks realizing that I'm having the best night of my life:
Rest in peace Hef. Thank you for the party, the magazine, and generally being a pretty amazing dude.
