Holly Madison Fires Back at Hugh Hefner's Response to Her New Tell-All Book
Holly Madison is not done talking.
The day after her juicy memoir, Down the Rabbit Hole, was released, the former Playboy Bunny spoke more about her time in the notorious Playboy Mansion while making an appearance on The Wendy Williams Show. She also fired back at the magazine's publisher, Hugh Hefner, who (not surprisingly) didn't agree with Madison's assessment of what went down during their, um, relationship.
Related: Holly Madison Contemplated Suicide at Playboy Mansion
"I wrote the book not because I had an ax to grind or because I wanted a reaction from [Hefner]," Madison, who married Pasquale Rotella and welcomed a baby girl with him in 2013, told the talk show host. "I just wanted to tell my story and hopefully inspire other women if they're in a bad relationship or a bad situation, to move on and not feel branded by a choice they made or a person they're known to be with."
Let's break down what else been said up to this point.
She said: Excerpts from Madison's book that made her time as one of Hefner's girlfriends sound anything but romantic were released Monday. Madison claimed that she was depressed to the point of contemplating suicide. She wrote that the now-married playboy offered her drugs and was a bad lover. He constantly pit his much younger girlfriends against each other and tried to bribe her to stay at the mansion by including her in his will, she alleged.
He said: Hefner released a statement defending himself on Tuesday that showed he wasn't fazed by Madison's story.
"Over the course of my life I've had more than my fair share of romantic relationships with wonderful women," he said. "Many moved on to live happy, healthy and productive lives, and I'm pleased to say remain dear friends today. Sadly, there are a few who have chosen to rewrite history in an attempt to stay in the spotlight. I guess, as the old saying goes: You can't win 'em all!"
She said: Madison's frenemy Kendra Wilkinson felt compelled to get involved, too. Wilkinson, who resided in the mansion and romanced Hefner at the same time as Madison, makes plenty of appearances in Madison's book, including once where she's described as the "fakest person" Madison has ever met.
"I feel bad for Hef," Wilkinson explained to People. "He's an amazing human being."
She wasn't done.
"Holly, you can tell, had this ulterior motive every minute being at the Mansion, and that motive was — it was clear as day — she wanted Hef's kids, she wanted a piece of Playboy and she wanted to marry Hef for, obviously, his will. That didn't happen. So what do you think's going to happen? Revenge. So we're witnessing some revenge here."
Related: Bunny Beef! Holly Madison's Bitter Feud With Kendra Wilkinson
She said: Back to Holly on Wendy Williams's show, where Madison didn't seem to care about how her disclosures were received by her ex.
"I think he thinks I'm doing it for fame because he can't grasp the fact that a woman would have a message and a story to tell," Madison said.
"For so many years, I didn't want to talk about my time at the mansion," she explained. "Everybody would ask me about it and I would give light, positive, dismissive answers... but it turned into the elephant in the room that I couldn't get away from. I hold myself accountable for all the decisions I made in my book and explain why I made them."
Your move, Hef.
