Holly Madison isn’t happy with how fellow former Playboy bunny Crystal Hefner supposedly mimicked her memoir style!
As you no doubt know, both Holly and Crystal have long histories with late Playboy founder Hugh Hefner. The 44-year-old Madison dated him from 2001 to 2008, and starred on Girls Next Door‘s first five seasons. Then, 37-year-old Crystal started seeing Hef in 2009, and they eventually got married three years later. They were still married when Hugh died in 2017 at the ripe old age of 91.
So, both Holly and Crystal must have very similar experiences with Hugh, and with living in the Playboy Mansion, right? Well, sure. But according to Holly, their memoir re-tellings are TOO similar!! Madison published her book, Down The Rabbit Hole, back in 2015. Then, Crystal followed up with her own memoir, Only Say Good Things, which was released this January. And now, Holly is calling Hugh’s widow out for style violations!!
Related: Holly Madison Reveals Disgusting ‘Makeshift Lube’ Situation At Playboy Mansion!
Speaking on this week’s LadyGang podcast, Holly slammed Crystal for mimicking her “narrative voice.” Despite the two memoirs being written and published nearly a decade apart, Madison cried foul:
“Anybody who’s read my book that came out eight years ago and then read her book, tell me the narrative voice doesn’t sound exactly the same. Drives me up a wall.”
Oof!
Holly brought the receipts, too. While she did expect her and Crystal’s experiences with Hef to be largely similar, it was the style of the writing that threw her. Madison noted how Crystal’s use of “fairy tale references” and “psychological catchphrases” was parallel to the same themes Holly employed in 2015. She noted:
“I’m weirded out by it, especially since she had a ghostwriter. Like, do your research and don’t copy.”
Seriously! Especially with a ghostwriter involved. So weird that a professional writer working behind the scenes couldn’t just hammer out a unique project for Crystal?? Interestingly, Holly noted that both women worked with the same publishing team. Even though the projects were, again, about a decade apart, having the same literary team involved on the collab is a strange development:
“You would have thought that it went through somebody reading it that would be like, ‘That’s a little bit too similar.'”
Seriously! So weird!
Related: Holly Madison Won’t Talk ‘Dieting Or Weight’ With Her Kids
In comparison, Madison did have nice things to say about Kendra Wilkinson‘s memoir Sliding Into Home. She explained how in the case of Kendra’s book, it was very clear that it was written in a unique voice by a person with unique experiences:
“If you take my book and Kendra’s book, it’s two completely different people even though we lived there at the same time. Like, it’s two completely different voices, as it should be.”
Makes sense to us! In the end, though, Holly at least did give Crystal credit in one big way: for honestly sharing her experiences and being open to revealing what life was like with Hef. Madison noted how she went through hell as the first one to tell her story way back then. Thankfully, Crystal’s memoir was more seriously received by critics and readers this year:
“It’s always hard to come out and tell your story first, especially when you’re crucified for it. When my book came out [Hugh] was still alive, it was before the Me Too movement went mainstream … The book was very successful, but I got dragged. Now it’s a little bit easier for other people to come out and share their stories.”
What do U make of these memoir misfires, Perezcious readers?? Sound OFF with your reactions to Madison’s claims in the comments (below)!
[Image via FayesVision/WENN]
Related Posts
