Playboy founder Hugh Hefner begged the FBI to investigate financier Jeffrey Epstein after a Playmate claimed she was raped and trafficked, according to new court documents. The adult entertainment mogul made repeated calls to federal agents in 2005 on behalf of centrefold model Audra Lynn Christiansen, the lawsuit filed against the US government states.
Hefner's calls to the FBI
Christiansen, who was crowned Miss October 2003, reportedly turned to Hefner for help when she was just 23 and living at the famous Beverly Hills Mansion. According to the legal filing, the late magazine publisher called the bureau "multiple times" to get the young model help.
As well as the rape allegations against Epstein, Christiansen claimed she confided in Hefner that she was trafficked to one of his wealthy pals - late Macau casino billionaire Stanley Ho, dubbed China's "Godfather of gambling". The centrefold is said to have turned to Hefner in 2005 believing his massive fame, law enforcement connections, and high-society "clout" would force authorities to take her claims seriously.
"Mr. Hefner called the FBI multiple times on behalf of Ms. Christiansen to report Jeffrey Epstein," the court complaint states.
Lawsuit against the FBI
Jordan Merson, a lawyer for the complainants, told the New York Post: "The fact that the FBI is trying to utilise procedural technicalities to try to avert accountability and responsibility for its failures to properly investigate Jeffrey Epstein for over 20 years should be deeply concerning to all. How can you learn from errors if you do not acknowledge them?"
The claims feature in an amended lawsuit brought by 32 Epstein victims, accusing the FBI of turning a blind eye to reports about the late paedophile financier as far back as 1996. Christiansen, now 46 - who previously starred in hit reality TV show The Girls Next Door - claims agents only contacted her to follow up on the 15-year-old tip-off in October 2020, well after Epstein had died in his New York prison cell.
Details from FBI records
In FBI records attached to the filing, the Minnesota-born beauty told agents her talent reps introduced her to Epstein after he saw her centrefold shoot. Ironing out the details in her 2003 "Playmate data sheet" at the time, she listed her main turn-on as "a secure older man who makes me laugh" and listed "being taken for granted" as her biggest turnoff.
Files released by the US Department of Justice show Epstein bragging about casino tycoon Ho to friend Boris Nikolic in a 2011 email, calling him "the richest man in Hong Kong" who "owns most of Macau" and labelling him "the leader of the Chinese mob." Ho passed away in 2020.
Hefner himself faced accusations five years after his 2017 death, when former partners branded him a "predator" in the documentary series Secrets of Playboy. Hefner was never charged with any crime during his lifetime. The FBI has attempted to dismiss the victims' lawsuit, claiming in court filings that the agency is "not required to investigate every complaint" it receives. The case remains ongoing, while the FBI has never publicly commented on Hefner's alleged phone calls.
