The Dark Secrets of Playboy

by Stefan Tetenbaum

'The Dark Secrets of Playboy' is the true story of Stefan Tetenbaum's time working at Playboy mansion west in the late 70s as Hugh Hefner's personal butler. Tetenbaum's memoir gives readers an insider's look at the culture and the philosophy of Hugh M. Hefner's PLAYBOY world and a look inside the Playmates, Club Bunnies, girlfriends, celebrities' secret life of what really went on behind closed doors. The truth started to unfold after Hefner's passing in 2017 and when the #metoo movement swept the world becoming a media spotlight on living monsters rather than the deceased. In 2022, A&E released a ten-part documentary where Tetenbaum discusses at length the hair-raising stories of life at the Mansion and the impact on the generations of women who lived there. This book fills in the fine details that even a ten-part documentary could not.

Genres: Nonfiction

294 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 11, 2022

About the author

Hugh Hefner’s former personal butler

Reviews

[Morgan Stewart · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh my gosh… this was dreadful. Not only was the story terrible (HUGE TRIGGER WARNING OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE AND ASSAULT), but the writing itself was awful. I don’t even think this was run by an editor… it was chock-FULL of grammatical issues (like an embarrassing amount).

I also find the author extremely problematic. I understand that this takes place in the 70s (when I hate to say it… people got away with a lot of crap), but the fact that he was privy to and witnessed a lot of atrocities at the mansion without doing anything (or at the minimum, he was complicit because he cleaned up after some of the “messes”) is awful. He then continued to profit and write a book off of others’ stories; I find that so harmful. I feel like a lot of these stories were not his to tell.

Also, the way he writes about women in this book is disgusting. It’s one thing to paint a picture and use imagery… it’s another thing to give in-depth descriptions of womens’ bodies. He doesn’t do himself any favors, in fact, I got the impression that he was part of the problem and gawked at the extremely young and impressionable women at the mansion. Oh and he was married at this time. Why are you so enthusiastic about describing every. single. anatomical. bit. of. genitalia? Because you saw these women as objects.

I wanted to read this because as a child of the 90s, I grew up seeing playboy in media a lot and found the “old school hollywood glam” alluring. I was also a big fan of “The Girls Nextdoor” show and enjoyed Holly Madison’s book, “Down the Rabbit Hole”. But this… is not it. I could hardly stomach a lot of this book and was cringing as the author revealed the stories of so many women. Yuck.

[Reader · Rating 1 out of 5]

BS Alert!!
The guy who wrote this book, Stefan Tetenbaum, claims to have been Hefner’s personal valet but he never was. I know because that was MY job during the time he says he was there and I can prove it.

He made the same claim on A&E’s “The Secrets of Playboy” and in interviews he did after Hefner’s death.

But you don’t need to have worked at the Mansion to see through his outlandish assertions. It is chock full of gross inaccuracies, ridiculously contrived situations, cruel untruths, and hurtful accusations about people who are no longer here to defend themselves.

Plus, it is so poorly written, it's hard to get through. Beyond the lack of truth, there are dozens and dozens of typos, formatting errors, no chapter numbers, NO PAGE NUMBERS, and the pages themselves are actually falling out of the binding.

This book is truly awful and the only thing more painful than reading it was having to pay for it. And now, unfortunately, I can’t return it because I’ve made so many notes in it, picking it apart and noting all of his ridiculous fabrications and inaccuracies.

He was never Hugh Hefner’s valet and would never have had the experiences he describes.
Don’t waste your time or money on this.

[Chele · Rating 1 out of 5]

Awful. Awful content and awful editing. How does a book not have page numbers? So many spelling and punctuation errors. The flow was very repetitive. How many times do we need to hear that HMH was from Chicago? Why is there so much description of the ice cold Pepsi with a red napkin tied around it? Why are the characters introduced multiple times? I felt like I was reading a very early rough draft.

Then there is the problematic content. The author admits to not being present for certain events, yet narrates explicit details. The author lost all validity, who knows where the truth / fiction line lays. His frequent description of women’s genitalia is unnecessary and just gross. Also why is he telling other peoples stories? The author has no right to name and describe the horrific occurrences that happened to others.

[Jojo · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don’t believe half of this! I find it amazing that all of these people that have written these “Tell All” books, WAITED until Hugh Hefner died! Why didn’t they write this stuff when he was alive so we could hear BOTH sides of all these stories?! I think this guy Stefan is completely full of shit! He’s playing himself off like he also didn’t participate in any of the stealing, employee revenge and screwing the girls. A “saint” so to speak! (Except for the parts of him explicitly describing most of the women's genitalia to the point I could probably pick them out in a line up!)

To me, this book is written by someone with an extreme sick imagination and using the Playboy empire to his advantage like everyone else! I’m not saying most of it didn’t happen, but extremely embellished and Hef isn’t around to say if it’s true or not! (Stefan also admits to being fired, which is more of a reason a disgruntled ex employee would say anything looking for a piece of the bunny pie.) And whats with his wife's stupid artwork thrown into it at the end?

I would also like to point out this idiot Stefan said no publishers wanted to publish this while Hefner was alive except they all wanted it after his death. How come if so many publishers wanted it after he died…..it was self published? The typos, misspellings and time frame inaccuracies are flipping horrible!

[Kristy L · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting information, but poorly written

I purchased this book after seeing the author on the “Secrets of Playboy” docu-series. Although the story is interesting, this book could definitely benefit from a proofreader. The author misspelled Barbi Benton’s name several times, and the format is a bit odd.

[Leland · Rating 1 out of 5]

As a former employee of the Playboy Mansion during the period described in this book, I can tell you that it is almost entirely fiction. It's also poorly written and amateurishly printed, with spelling and formatting errors throughout.

[Elida · Rating 4 out of 5]

great stories - poor editing

I really liked the insight and perspective of Sefan’s time at Playboy Mansion. It does read as a first draft which hasn’t been proof read and edited at all. Though overall I really enjoyed reading the stories

[M_ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would like to have given this book 4 stars for its content and inside information (assuming it’s mostly true based off other accounts of people coming forward now the Hefner is dead), but no one edited the book at all. It was as if the author dictated his accounts into a computer and it went straight to print with no editing or organization whatsoever. Yikes. Too bad.

When I finished the last sentence of the book, I literally and audibly said, “Gross!” Then I threw it to the side.

The more people come forward now that Hefner is dead, the more disgusting the entire web of manipulation, lies, payoffs, rapes, torture, coverups, drugs, humiliation, abuse, spying, murders, mind control, pimping and prostitution, orgies, unspeakable & appalling sex acts, set ups, money laundering, stealing, and countless other illegal acts too numerous to list here are exposed.

I thought I knew a lot. I was mistaken. I had NO idea. And I’ve read a LOT and gone 100% down this dark and disturbing rabbit hole that is shining light on everything Playboy now that Hefner is dead.

Also, I am stunned at what this book claims. I’m horrified at the number of graphic and brutal rapes the author witnessed and did nothing because he wanted to keep his job. He also speaks of women in a dismissive, derogatory, misogynistic way throughout the book. And he doesn’t get a pass because it was the 70’s and people spoke differently back then. Um…. You’re still gross, Tetenbaum.

And in the end, when he speaks in deep detail about his knowledge of what truly happened to Dorothy Stratten and how Hefner is directly involved, (*according to the author’s accounts), I just have no words.

I truly believe Hugh Hefner is the most skilled cult leader the world has ever seen, and no one can convince me otherwise. Honestly, Manson had NOTHING on Hefner, and for me to say that takes a LOT!

After reading all the published books out there on Playboy so far (except Playground, which is next) and seeing ALL the documentaries and docuseries that have recently come out, watching every episode of Girls Next Door (twice, admittedly), and listening to the Playboy Next Level Podcast with Holly and Bridget, I am convinced this entire enterprise led by Hefner was a MASSIVE cult. He had everyone and every, single facet of it under his control, and EVERY person below him, including his own brother, children, AND the ever loyal Mary O’Conner, were his puppets.

Disgusting.

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow what a story !!!very mind bending !!!! What a risk this writer took telling this story !!!! I think no one can possibly understand how powerful in the Media world Hefner was ,at the height of his era no one could cross him .No one could believe this then , or now .1978-82 was the Disco Era , The debachery and the harem is very graphic.This is the underbelly of Hefner’s world , the world of Playboy was a myth . The woman are explored and the Philosophy of Hefner examined . The raunch is real and the times were so different . No one could talk against Hefner the body guards all ex -LAPD NO stories were leaked and no one would believe any of the staff or playmates trying to get this story out and report the abuse . The mortality rate for Playboy women is high …because of the drug abuse and suicide mental health issues not to mention the exhaustion of Hefners life style . You can’t blame the messenger .This story should be told and read by anyone interested in the make believe world of Playboy and the real darkness that lay behind the mansion door. Not sure I cared that the editing wasn’t perfect. The sex is graphic and intense . A look back in a time that no one can really understand in full the complexity of that period in time . I look forward to the Audio book 📕 next .

[Ali · Rating 1 out of 5]

Load of nonsense

Stefan talks about stuff in here that there is absolutely no way he could have known. How could he be privy to private conversations, held in other people's houses on the other side of LA when he was at work in the mansion? Which means the things written in this book are a disgusting form of fanfiction. While it is clear Hef was a lifelong shitbag, Stefan's description and views on the women are equally disgusting. If I had a dollar for every time the word "whore" is used, I could probably buy the mansion outright.

Not only that, but it is so badly written. The first half of the book weaves in Dorothy's story, yet the author proceeds to just tell the story again in the second half. I guess he either had a quota to reach or learned that a book usually has a climax. Who would have guessed?

The foreword mentions the #metoo movement and I can't help but think this is a shameless cash in, designed to cause controversy and boost sales off the back of women's trauma. Thank god this was on kindle unlimited and I didn't actually pay anything for it.

Overall, I would avoid this.

[Jessica Guihot · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is by far the worst thing I’ve ever read.
Firstly, the editing of this book is nonexistent. It seems like the writer just sat down & wrote nonstop until they became incoherent & passed out on the keyboard. Then it was published without ever being proofread or edited. They repeat the exact same phrases & parts of the story in multiple points of the book. The story jumps around so much & during conversations it’s impossible to tell who is speaking & if it’s the authors thoughts or spoken conversation.
Secondly, the way the women are spoken about is disgusting. Revealing horrible things that happen to these women whilst staff & the author just sat around & watched is inhumane. If you were not the person being assaulted you have no right to speak out & describe graphic details of the assault to try & gain fame from it.
I understand that times & attitudes have changes, but this book was not published in the 70’s.

[Corbin Yeary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Intrigued by the endorsement from "The Stars of The Girls Next Door" on their Patreon, I approached this book with considerable interest. While the narrative is replete with scandalous and unsettling anecdotes, their veracity is questionable. Certain accounts undoubtedly require insider knowledge gleaned from working at the mansion. However, the author frequently adopts the perspectives of the Playmates or girlfriends, raising doubts about the authenticity of these portrayals. How could he possess such intimate knowledge of events transpiring behind closed doors without direct participation? Compounding these concerns, the text suffers from pervasive spelling and grammatical errors, rendering it a laborious read. Despite these shortcomings, I have awarded the book three stars. If even a fraction of these sensational claims prove to be true, the book warrants attention.

[Lauren Cline · Rating 1 out of 5]

Now that I’ve taken a solid couple of hours to meditate on how much I hate this book, I am now ready to unleash my absolute hatred for this book.

1. I felt like I was reading the roughest draft of a prepubescent boy writing about a subject he had no idea about. I have read better essays written by actual children than what I suffered through with this book.

2. This man also had zero editing. THE FACT THAT HE USED COMMON INSTEAD OF COME ON! Please. Get a grip. I think my favorite unfortunate misspelling was in fact that he used weigh instead of way. He also talked in literal circles repeating himself 95,000 times. Also, the misspelling of Dorothy Hoogstatens name for the first half of the book was infuriating and disrespectful.

3. SPEAKING OF DOROTHY. Am I an idiot or did he write about the same time period for both halves of the book? Or is he the idiot for writing about the same time period for both halves? If I have a dollar for every time he said “I’m the next Marilyn Monroe” I would be able to have enough money to destroy this book so no one else would have the displeasure of reading it.

4. FINALLY- the way this man described women is the most heinous and ludicrous part of this book. Don’t get me wrong, I know some AWFUL things probably happened in the mansion, but omg the depths that this man went to describe IN DETAIL the sexual assault and genitalia of the women at the mansion was DISTURBING! I thought no one could write about women as disgusting as George R R Martin does, but boy was I wrong.

I am very sad I spent so much time on reading this book. At about 4 pages in I went from a normal read to a rage read. I loathed this book.

[Julia Dees Harper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disturbing insider's look at the Playboy mansion

I had suspected mass debauchery, but not at the level herein described. I am not surprised at the revelations, but they are sickening and not for the faint-hearted. Much of the information dovetails with and lends credence to Peter Bogdanovich' biography of Dorothy Stratten's short life, as well as recent Me2 disclosures of Playboy abuses. It's hard to recommend this book as it's so difficult to read, and not just due to subject matter. As noted by other reviewers it could have used a much better editor, but it was engrossing and riveting.

[Samantha · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was absolutely the worse book I've ever read! Editing is a joke, the structure, heck what structure? It does not exist! How this is even on market is bewildering to me. The writing is so horrid that I don't believe 85% of the information provided. As I read this dull incoherent hollow paperback trash I found a great distain for the want to be, shallow sexist smut mentally impaired, author. Not only was this a waste of funds but time. If I could give it negative stars I would! Do yourself the favor don't buy this, I wouldn't even give this to someone else to read, so in the trash it goes with yesterday's left overs!

[Kim Gasparini · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a mess. The incredible amount of spelling mistakes, punctuation errors, spacing issues, etc made this hard to get through.
The content was sensational, and it’s pretty clear that a lot of this was written in a way to make the author and his wife look like the Untouchables while everyone else was raping and pillaging.
His descriptions of the women….he is disgusting.
The biggest sin was the sheer repetition. Entire paragraphs were copied and pasted onto different pages. He told of the same situations in several places, like he’d forgotten he had already told the story.

Cannot recommend.

[Shari · Rating 1 out of 5]

For content (if it’s true), maybe 3 stars. For writing… negative stars. Literally the worst thing I have ever read. It repeated stories multiple times, rather incoherently. Utterly rife with spelling and grammatical errors. Clearly self-published without an editor. Formatting was all over the place. Pretty much the worst self-published piece of work I have ever seen.

Instead of this drivel, go watch “Secrets of Playboy” on Hulu instead. It’s less of a time-sink than trying to parse this entire book (complete with weird drawings in the final pages).

[Manda Salls]

I won't rate this but it was interesting if you want to hear some great (truly awful) stories about what went on at the Playboy mansion. But yes, as others have said, I don't know how this was published - it reads like someone's rough notes. The punctuation is all over the place, names are randomly spelled different ways, events jump around and reappear... It was definitely an experience to read!!

[Joslin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Read this with a group otherwise it would not have been something I would have read. While I’m sure some events happened, a lot seems very far fetched and more of a made up story. There are details he would not know as a butler - I doubt girls told him things that happened outside of the mansion, lest along what he says they shared in the mansion. It was difficult to read at times for various reasons.

[kleinerpanda_ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Das Buch ist leider schlecht geschrieben. Viele Grammatik- und Tippfehler, dazu eine wenig klare Struktur mit häufigen Sprüngen in der Handlung. Vieles wirkt unglaubwürdig, insbesondere wie ein Butler an derart detaillierte Informationen gekommen sein soll. Zudem hinterlässt der Versuch, mit der Geschichte anderer Personen Geld zu verdienen, einen fragwürdigen Eindruck – zumal jegliche Einordnung fehlt. Insgesamt kann ich das Buch nicht empfehlen.

[Julie Linker · Rating 2 out of 5]

Atrocious

This is such a rambling, chaotic, atrocious literary attempt it’s impossible to write a detailed review.
The only thing more appalling than the author’s grasp on grammar, punctuation, spelling, narrative, etc., is the number of times he used the word “whore.”
Mr. Tetenbaum—as best one can tell, given the disaster that is this work—shares his former employer’s attitude toward women; they’re all whores.

Very much do NOT recommend this read.

[Coco · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is worth reading if you are down the playboy rabbit hole! It has a lot of good tea on Hef etc and the wild times of the 70s! This book explains Dorthy S.’s murder well and how hef could be involved in it! They are some very dark things in this book. This book outs the truth on Hugh Hefner’s bad character. Must read!

[Jacqueline · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very interesting book, but there were a lot of stories that it seems the author couldn't have been witness to. There are no quotes, notes, bibliography, and this isn't investigative journalism, so how is the reader to know these things happened? Also, the grammatical and punctuation errors were crazy.

[ash (mymodernrenaissance) · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF @ 21% on Kindle Unlimited. Spelling, punctuation, grammatical, and formatting errors everywhere. I just got to the point of not being able to stand it. And the way the women were described was not it for me. Maybe the docuseries would be better?

[Reyne' · Rating 3 out of 5]

Were the grammar and spelling errors really, really bad? No doubt. But the story itself is worth reading and I personally believe every word. Especially considering all of the other accounts of the others interviewed for Secrets of Playboy. My rating would be definitely be higher if the number of errors would be significantly lower.

[Donna McDermott · Rating 2 out of 5]

badly written

So badly written, clearly never been proof read. Lots of the stories jump all over the place and full of errors. Why would anyone want to work for Hefner? So many questions but I won’t read anymore. Disappointing.

[Tessa Reid · Rating 3 out of 5]

Detailed. I did feel I had read the same thing over and over and would need to double check to make sure I was advancing forward. He did spill some tea, very graphic and somewhat disturbing drops. Confirmed how gross the mansion truly was.

[Lauren Littlefield · Rating 1 out of 5]

The way this man describes woman is insulting and disgusting. Horribly written (no editing) and very repetitive. I read this for the podcast the girls next level book review and that is the only thing that made me push through.

[Conor · Rating 1 out of 5]

Poorly written, badly edited, and horribly formatted. The topic is interesting until you hear about a freshly opened cold Pepsi for the 1000th time. Cash grab tell-all.

[Melissa Anderson · Rating 1 out of 5]

poorly written

This book is terrible! It’s written poorly, and thoughts just jumbled together with ramblings that don’t connect to the next.