Crystal Harris is speaking out, and she wants Jessica Biel to think carefully before stepping into a role connected to one of the most controversial figures in entertainment history.

Harris, the widow of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, has publicly urged Biel to reconsider her involvement in the upcoming film Playmates. Her message comes after Biel was announced as part of the movie’s cast, reigniting a debate about how Hollywood should portray the Playboy Mansion and the people who lived there.

For Harris, this is about much more than a movie role.

In a message she shared publicly on Instagram, Harris asked Biel to reconsider playing a fictional version of Hefner’s wife if the film intends to romanticize him or the Playboy lifestyle.

“Please reconsider playing Hugh Hefner’s ‘wife’ if this film intends to romanticize him or the Playboy world,” Harris wrote.

She then explained why the subject is deeply personal to her.

“I was actually his wife, and I experienced sexual, emotional, financial and physical abuse in that relationship,” she stated.

Harris was married to Hefner from 2012 until his death in 2017. In the years since, she has spoken openly about her experiences at the Playboy Mansion, including in her memoir, Only Say Good Things: Surviving Playboy and Finding Myself.

Her latest comments also referenced allegations made by other women who have spoken about their experiences in Hefner’s world. Harris argued that their accounts deserve to be taken seriously rather than pushed aside in favor of a glamorous Hollywood portrayal.

WHY THE UPCOMING MOVIE HAS SPARKED A DEBATE

The film, titled Playmates, is being written and directed by Lorraine Nicholson. Its story centers on a young girl at the Playboy Mansion who develops an unlikely friendship with a woman hoping to become Playmate of the Month.

The project is not a straightforward biopic of Hefner, and Biel’s character is fictional. Nevertheless, Harris is concerned about the way the Playboy world could be presented to audiences.

She urged everyone involved in the production to listen to women who experienced that environment firsthand before turning it into a nostalgic story.

Her message raises a larger question about Hollywood: when a film explores a famous but controversial figure, how much responsibility does it have to acknowledge the experiences of people who say they were harmed?

For Harris, the answer is clear. She wants the real-life experiences of women associated with Playboy to be part of the conversation.

WILL JESSICA BIEL RESPOND?

Biel has not publicly announced that she is withdrawing from the project, and Harris’s appeal does not mean the film’s production plans have changed.

The movie also features Bill Pullman as Hefner, alongside Lily-Rose Depp and Indiana Elle.

Whether Harris’s intervention will influence the production remains to be seen. Her public message, however, has already brought renewed attention to the debate over how the Playboy legacy should be portrayed on screen.

For now, the question is not simply who will appear in Playmates, but how the story will ultimately be told — and whether the voices of the women who lived through that world will be heard.