Hundreds of ex-Playboy employees defend Hugh Hefner amid misconduct allegations

msn.com:

Around 500 ex-Playboy employees and Playmates have shot to Hugh Hefner's defence following accusations of misconduct. The Playboy founder - who died in September 2017 aged 91 - has come under fire in A&E docuseries 'Secrets of Playboy', but now a number of people formerly associated with him, including his ex-wife Kimberly Hefner, and former girlfriends Brande Roderick and Sandy Kauffman Bentley, have come out in support of the late magazine publisher.

An open letter reads: "We sign our names to support Hugh M. Hefner. "From all we know of Hef, he was a person of upstanding character, exceptional kindness, and dedication to free thought. "He demonstrated a commitment to living an honest life beyond everything else.

Our time within Hugh Hefner's Playboy and the organizations subsidiaries remains a period all of us are fond of. "I proudly sign this letter in recognition of Hugh Hefner's character amid unfounded allegations in the A&E show. " More than 270 Playboy Bunnies - who worked in Playboy Clubs - and around 80 former Playmates, who appeared in the magazine's pages, are said to be among those who have signed their names on the letter.

Kimberly - who was married to Hefner for 21 years - said: "All people should be encouraged to share their individual experience in this world, but no one should be emboldened to re-write the truth at the expense of another person's character. "What the allegers who speak out now seem to ignore is that there were many of us throughout the years who were there with them as well. "I'm saddened, mostly, that these accounts take light away from true victims of sexual abuse, and hope that in time those selling lies to defame Hef find peace within their own lives.