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Holly Madison and Bridget Marquardt slammed their ex-boyfriend Hugh Hefner for not standing up for them after Bill Maher called them "whores."
Speaking on their Girls Next Level podcast, Hefner's ex-girlfriends recalled an event in 2004 where the comedian denigrated them in public.
Describing Maher as "not my favorite," the women recalled the moment in 2004 when he was speaking at the Hollywood Erotic Museum, where the late Playboy founder was being inducted into its Hall of Fame.
Maher had been tasked with introducing Hefner at the event but during his speech called the women "whores", which they said "wasn't even a funny joke, it was just rude."
Madison described how the Playmates and Hefner's girlfriends were used to being the butt of many people's jokes and described attending a Comedy Central Roast of Hefner in New York where comedian Sarah Silverman made a similar comment to Maher's.
"So we were sitting in the audience and Sarah Silverman came up, and she goes, 'Oh, let's talk about the whores. I mean bunnies.' But the whole thing was funny and I'm not gonna say nobody was offended because there was one girl in the group who's really offended by it. But at least it was funny."
Madison added: "I can take a joke. Bill wasn't funny. I felt like some misogyny seeping through that a little bit. But I didn't feel like he was trying to be funny, just serious. He was just being a d*** and the worst part about that is Hef didn't stick up for us."
The women then slammed their ex for not "sticking up" for them when people would speak negatively about them.
"Hef never stuck up for us with s*** like that, ever ... if anybody talked trash about us, he never f***** stuck up for us, it was so rude," Madison declared.
She recounted how Hefner would gush over her in private saying, "I love you. You're gonna be with me for the rest of my life. You're my soulmate." But then would not offer "a word in your defense, ever."
"He could have taken him aside a little later and been like, 'Hey, bro, you can make fun of me but like, you know, [not] my girls, especially when they're that much younger than you,'" Madison said.
"He never stuck up for us and we didn't have a voice to stand up. We would have been totally cut down if we tried to stick up for ourselves. It would have been a nightmare.
"Can you imagine if any of us said something to Bill in front of Hef? We would have been almost kicked out the next day if not kicked out [of the Playboy Mansion]."
Girls Next Level premiered in August 2022, with the two former Playmates giving behind-the-scenes details about their time at the Playboy Mansion.
Madison started dating Hefner in 2001 and starred in the E! reality series The Girls Next Door alongside Marquardt and Kendra Wilkinson from 2003 to 2009.
Marquardt was never a Playmate but moved into the Playboy Mansion in 2002 when she was invited to be one of Hefner's girlfriends.
About the writer
Shannon Power is a Greek-Australian reporter, but now calls London home. They have worked as across three continents in print, ... Read more