Hugh Hefner started the Playboy legacy, American men’s lifestyle and entertainment magazine, which was formerly in print, but more recently has been online. Hefner passed away in 2017 at the age of 91, but left behind many unresolved threads, especially with the nude photos of Marilyn Monroe that he included in the first edition of Playboy. She never consented to their publication.
The success of the magazine, right from its inception, was definitely because of Marilyn, which Hefner himself agrees to. The cover of the first issue featured the blonde actress, while the inside pages had nude pictures of her, and no wonder the edition sold 50,000 copies upon its release. However, Marilyn didn’t have any agreements with Playboy for the nude pictures, and neither were these pictures ever photographed for or by Playboy. Here’s the real truth behind the nude photoshoot.
Related: How Marilyn Monroe’s Iconic Flying Skirt Scene Led To Her Divorce In Real Life
Marilyn Monroe Did The Nude Photoshoot For Tom Kelly
The nude photoshoot was actually an act of desperation that Marilyn Monroe had to succumb to. Like every aspiring artist in need of money, Monroe, too, was in need of some financial assistance. This was before she hit it off in Hollywood. In 1949, in exchange for $50, she posed nude for photographer Tom Kelly. Monroe also kept two conditions: first, she was to be paid, and second, his wife was to be present during the shoot to ensure that nothing inappropriate happened during the work.
Marilyn didn’t sign the pictures with her own name. Instead, she used ‘Mona Monroe.’ This was solely because many film studios had modesty clauses, and she wanted to play safe and secure, without jeopardizing her future. Tom sold off the photographs to Western Lithograph Company, which made calendars, and by 1951, her pictures were featured on their calendars. Coincidentally, this also became the same year Monroe’s career saw a huge push with ‘Asphalt Jungle,’ and ‘All About Eve,’ followed by ‘Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,‘ during which her nude pictures were re-released, and Monroe had to address the myriads of questions surrounding them. Monroe simply answered that she did what she had to do, and, quite luckily, this didn’t obliterate her acting career.
In case you missed: Love, Lust And Life: Which Famous Men Did Marilyn Monroe Have Relations With?
Legal But Not Consented: Hefner Purchased The Nude Pictures Of Marilyn Monroe
Four years later, in 1954, Hugh Hefner purchased those pictures of Marilyn’s from Chicago calendar for $500. Then, he decided to make Monroe the “Sweetheart of the Month” for the first issue of Playboy, thus featuring her on the cover of the issue.
While Hefner purchased Monroe’s pictures, he never asked for Monroe’s permission to put them in the magazine. There was no agreement signed between the two parties. Therefore, although Hefner played the move legally, it doesn’t change the fact that Monroe had no say in the publishing of her nude photographs like that. Monroe went on to become one of the biggest Hollywood stars and earned millions. However, her love life was tumultuous and she died a mysterious death.
You might also like to read:
