EXCLUSIVE: Hugh Hefner's Creepy Playboy Mansion Camera Footage Meant to 'Blackmail' A-Listers Exposed Years After His Death — As Media Mogul's Would-Be 100th Birthday Passes
Hugh Hefner died in 2017.
April 9 2026, Published 4:16 p.m. ET
Hugh Hefner filled the Playboy Mansion with cameras that very likely caught celebrities, politicians and models' drunken escapades and wild trysts over the years, RadarOnline.com can exclusively reveal on what would have been the media mogul's 100th birthday.
According to an insider, Hefner – who died in 2017 at 91 years old – "loved to blackmail people," and he allegedly used the creepy surveillance footage to gain "power" over high profile figures.
Hef's 'Blackmail' Material
Hugh Hefner reportedly had cameras almost everywhere at the Playboy Mansion.
"That’s how he got all of his favors done," the Playboy whistleblower shared at the time. "If they were in the grotto or game room doing drugs or hooking up with someone, of course he would have footage of that he could expose at any time."
Jennifer Saginor, daughter of Hefner's former doctor and author of the memoir Playground: A Childhood Lost Inside the Playboy Mansion, also recalled there being constant surveillance at the sprawling property.
"Hef had cameras all over," she told Radar. "Every single room, and they were going 24/7!"
Hugh Hefner's Former Valet Tells All
Hugh Hefner's ex-valet said 'every place had microphones and little cameras.'
Stefan Tetenbaum, who was employed as Hef's valet from the late 1970s to the early '80s, said his ex-boss "taped everything in his bedroom."
"Every place had microphones and little cameras," he continued. "Many men — stars and athletes — came into the bedroom and had sex with these girls."
Tetenbaum clarified that Hefner himself "never participated," during an interview for A&E's docuseries Secrets of Playboy.
"He wanted his girls and the stars," the former valet added. "Can you imagine what power he had over these men?"
Holly Madison's 'Revenge' Photo Fears
Holly Madison claimed Hugh Hefner took 'naked pictures of women' when they were under the influence.
Hefner's ex-girlfriend Holly Madison also spoke up in the bombshell docuseries, claiming that she was "afraid to leave" him because she was worried about what photos and videos he might have stashed.
"Something that was always lingering at the back of my mind, I think since the very beginning, was that if I left there was this mountain of revenge porn waiting to come out," she noted.
Expanding on her fears, Madison, 46, further alleged that it wasn't uncommon for Hefner to take "all kinds of naked pictures of women when we were wasted out of our minds."
Crystal Deletes Snapshots
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Crystal Hefner married Hugh in 2012.
Following Madison's interviews on the show, Crystal Hefner – who was married to the Playboy boss from 2012 until his death – assured the Girls Next Door star that she had gotten rid of many of those images.
"I found thousands of those disposable camera photos you are talking about @hollymadison," Crystal, now 39, posted on social media at the time. "I immediately ripped them up and destroyed every single one of them for you and the countless other women in them. They're gone."
Following the release of the docuseries, the PLBY Group attempted to distance themselves from Hugh and the many allegations against him.
"We trust and validate women and their stories, and we strongly support the individuals who have come forward to share their experiences," their statement read. "As a brand with sex positivity at its core, we believe safety, security and accountability are paramount, and anything less is inexcusable. As you know, the Hefner family is no longer associated with Playboy, and today’s Playboy is not Hugh Hefner’s Playboy.”
