Hugh Hefner’s son find it ”tough” to see his famous father in ill health.
The 91-year-old Playboy founder has largely retreated from the spotlight in recent years and Cooper Hefner, 25, admits his dad is struggling, but he is thankful that he hasn’t experienced mental deterioration.
Cooper told The Hollywood Reporter of his dad: ”It’s tough to watch him struggle, but I’m just happy it’s physical and not mental.”
Cooper has taken creative control of the Playboy brand, and though he wouldn’t dream of donning his father’s famous loungewear to the office, he does still put on Hugh’s famous pyjamas now and again.
He admitted: ”I suit up in my dad’s pyjamas for our Midsummer Night’s Dream party; it’s a nice note to the past.
”It would be a major mistake — ridiculous — to wear them to the office. I think about the Playboy philosophy constantly, but I have my own point of view. It’s what will have to carry me through.”
Cooper’s mother, Kimberley Conrad, was the adult publication’s Playmate of the Year in 1989, and her nude picture used to hang in the library of their home, which her son admits was ”weird”.
However, he insisted: ”The image being up now wouldn’t bother me.
”On Mother’s Day [this year], I asked her if she would be interested in reshooting her original cover. Two weeks later we did it.”
Meanwhile, Cooper believes E! reality show ‘The Girls Next Door’, which chronicled the lives of Playboy models and Hugh’s then-girlfriends, including Kendra Wilkinson Baskett, Bridget Marquardt, and Holly Madison, and ran from 2005 to 2010 damaged their brand.
He said: ”[The show] collected a young audience but didn’t do a good job of conveying how Playboy is both playful and sophisticated.”
To read the full interview with Cooper, visit www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/hugh-hefners-son-cooper-plans-remake-playboy-my-generation-1031468
