Holly Madison, former girlfriend of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, has opened up about an unusual rule she says governed life inside the Playboy Mansion: an apparent aversion to red lipstick.
Life inside the mansion
Madison, now 45, lived at the mansion from 2001 until her split from Hefner in 2008, at one point serving as his "main girlfriend," a title Hefner reportedly rotated among the women living with him. Hefner died in 2017 at age 91.
What Madison said about the lipstick rule
Speaking on the Ahead of the Curve with Coco Mocoe podcast, Madison said Hefner disliked when the women living with him wore red lipstick, though she said the rule wasn't enforced consistently. New arrivals to the mansion, she explained, were generally treated well and could wear it without any pushback. That changed for her around six months into living there, once she'd become his main girlfriend and was living in his bedroom, at which point she said he felt entitled to raise his voice over it.
The reason behind it
Madison said she came to see the rule as a form of control, believing Hefner associated red lipstick with looking older and more mature, which ran counter to the image he wanted his girlfriends and Playmates to project. She explained that when Hefner created the concept of the Playmate in the 1950s, he wanted women to appear young and fresh-faced, describing the era's more mature glamour look at the time as resembling, in his words, "somebody's older sister."
Other accounts from former partners
Since Hefner's death, several former girlfriends have spoken publicly about conditions inside the mansion, describing a strict 6pm curfew, restrictions on relationships outside the house, and having to line up to receive an allowance from him. His widow, Crystal Hefner, previously told The Guardian that living there began to feel confining over time, describing security preventing her from leaving and reflecting on why she believes women in vulnerable situations are drawn into environments like that.
