Ex Playboy Bunny chats with Wendy Williams about new book

Jun 26, 2015 08:26 GMT  ·  By
Holly Madison talks about new book, “Down the Rabbit Hole,” with Wendy Williams
   Holly Madison talks about new book, “Down the Rabbit Hole,” with Wendy Williams

Holly Madison was Hugh Hefner’s Number 1 girlfriend at the Playboy Mansion for 7 years, but if you expected her account of the experience to be glamorous and happy, you’re wrong. In a new book called “Down the Rabbit Hole,” out in stores now, she talks about the ordeal she went through and how Hefner was manipulative and abusive towards her.

Her claims have already been disputed by Hefner himself, who accused her of “rewriting history,” former girlfriend Kendra Wilkinson, who said she was out to get even with Hef after failing to get her hands on his money, and even by Hefner’s son Cooper, who accused her of being a golddigger.

Holly stands by her story.

“I wanted my truth out there”

The other day, Madison stopped by the Wendy Williams show to promote the book and address some of the claims made against her in the press about the reasons for writing it, specifically from Hefner and Kendra.

She explains why she spent so many years at the Mansion before finally deciding to leave and details some of the abuse she suffered. She is not lying about how controlling and manipulative Hefner was, in a bid to keep up appearances that life at the Mansion as one of his girls was a dream come true.

It most certainly wasn’t that. It took Holly some time to understand it, but when she did, she didn’t look back but packed her bags and left. Hefner tried to stop her by including her in his will and offering to marry her, but by that time, he’d already shown his “true colors” and she wanted nothing else to do with him.

Holly says it took her more years afterwards to accept responsibility for her actions in these events, and to understand that Playboy was part of her life, even though not the most pleasant experience. This is why she wrote the book, she says: she wants her story, her version of the truth out there.

Helping out others

At the same time, she says, if there are women in a similar circumstance, trapped in abusive relationships, she wants them to understand what’s happening to them faster than she did.

“I wrote the book not because I had an ax to grind or because I wanted a reaction from him,” Holly explains. “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.”

She believes Hefner is accusing her of rewriting history because he can’t even fathom that a woman would have a story to tell publicly.