Playboy founder Hugh Hefner “is fine” and enjoying life, his spokeswoman said Friday, rebutting a report that aides of the 90-year-old publisher feared for his health.
A New York tabloid posted a story under the headline “Super sick Hugh Hefner holes up in Playboy mansion” that began: “There are fears for the health of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, whose weight has plummeted and who hasn’t been seen in public for months, according to a source.
“’He looks like he is down to around 90 pounds and super sick. His people are really trying to keep this under wraps. You even have to sign a confidentiality agreement to go up to see him,’ a source said.”
The spokeswoman noted that Hefner has suffered from back pain in recent years “that has made it a bit more challenging for him to get around, but at 90 years of age he is enjoying his life and still very involved in the day to day activities of editing the magazine.”
The statement followed a report in the New York Post’s Page Six gossip column that cited unnamed sources saying that Hefner’s weight appears to have plummeted to around 90 pounds.
Hefner, whose magazines with their nude models played a key role in the 1960s sexual revolution, has not been seen in public for several months.
His third wife, Crystal, 30, a former Playmate who Hefner married in 2012, this week posted Instagram pictures of herself in Paris but did not mention her husband.
Hefner in August sold his famed Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles, the venue for his famous, free-wheeling parties, for $100 million but the deal gave him the right to continue living there for the rest of his life.
— Reuters and staff reports