Crystal Hefner, the widow of the late Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner, is working to keep thousands of intimate images in his scrapbooks and journals private. Crystal, 39, filed regulatory complaints with the attorneys general of California and Illinois, alleging that the Hugh M. Hefner Foundation mishandled sensitive private documents. According to Crystal, the materials include scrapbooks containing explicit images of women. She also alleges that some of the images are of underage girls.

Crystal, who is being represented by high-profile lawyer Gloria Allred, said that the images did not appear in Playboy magazines.

Allred said Crystal was removed as the chief executive officer of the Hugh M. Hefner Foundation after she voiced concerns over publishing the private scrapbooks and diary. 1:27 5 facts you may not know about Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner "My focus is on how Hugh Hefner's personal scrapbooks chronicle private moments that took place behind closed doors," Crystal said during a press conference on Feb. 17. Story continues below advertisement "There are serious and unresolved concerns about the scope of what these books contain. The materials span decades, beginning in the 1960s, and may include images of girls who were underage at the time and could not consent to how their images would be retained or controlled." View image in full screen Crystal Hefner (L), widow of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, and attorney Gloria Allred hold a press conference to announce steps they're taking to protect sexual images and information about women in Hefner's personal scrapbooks and diary in Los Angeles on Feb. 17, 2026. Frederic J. Brown / AFP via Getty Images Crystal claimed that many of the scrapbooks "may also contain images of women who did not consent to their images being taken in the first place." Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy. "The scrapbooks include nude images, images taken before and after sexual activity, and other deeply intimate moments. They contain intimate material involving women who are now mothers, grandmothers, professionals and private citizens who have spent decades building their lives with no idea these images were still being hoarded," she continued."I believe they include women, and possibly girls, who never agreed to lifelong private possession of their naked images, and who have no transparency into where their photos are, how they are being stored, or what will happen to them next." Story continues below advertisement She said that she is "deeply worried about these images getting out" due to "artificial intelligence, deepfakes, digital scanning, online marketplaces and data breaches.""A single security failure could devastate thousands of lives," she added. More on Entertainment More videos Stephen Colbert hits back at CBS bosses in dispute over unaired interview James Van Der Beek renewed wedding vows with wife in bed days before death Shia LaBeouf arrested after fight during Mardi Gras in New Orleans Natalie Spooner takes on Olympic Village food Musical theatre revue with Saskatoon Summer Players Homegrown: Old Gold Vintage Vinyl Emerging filmmakers to be featured during 10th Halifax Black Film Festival Penticton Vees on verge of setting new WHL record "This is not about money. I am seeking dignity, safety and the destruction of non-consensual intimate materials so that exploitation does not continue under the banner of philanthropy. Thousands of women may be affected. This is a civil rights issue. Women's bodies are not property, not history, and not collectibles. And no organization should be allowed to claim the language of civil rights while denying women their most basic one: the right to control their own bodies and images," Crystal concluded.

Allred alleged the foundation has in its possession "3,000 personal scrapbooks containing thousands of nude images of women as well as Hefner's diary, containing highly personal information regarding his sexual exploits, including names of women he slept with, notes describing the sex acts that they performed and in some instances even information tracking women's menstrual cycles."Allred said that they are asking the attorneys general to "initiate a prompt and thorough investigation of the Hugh M. Hefner Foundation's actions.""Crystal is especially concerned that these scrapbooks could contain images of minor girls. Moreover, Crystal is also concerned that some of the images in the scrapbooks may have been taken without the informed consent of the adult women depicted, such as while they were intoxicated," Allred added. Trending Now Rhode Island shooter killed ex-wife, son before bystanders intervened: police Father searches for remains of son, one of 27 Canadians k