Authors: Izabella St. James
There was another girl, Bridget, who began hanging out with us. We were all introduced to Bridget in 2002 when she came to the Playboy Mansion one night to meet Ray Manzella. Ray used to be Pamela Anderson’s manager, and was Jenny McCarthy’s boyfriend and tireless manager, who finally got her the gig on MTV’s
Singled Out
. He had also been married to one of Hef’s ex-Girlfriends, Sondra Theodore. Many women hooked up with Ray, thinking that he would see something special in them and they would become the next starlet. Bridget and Ray were going out on a date and met up at the Mansion. Bridget got to wait with us in the dining room as we waited to go out on one of our club nights. I recall Holly needed a jacket to wear that night and Bridget offered her own jacket. She seemed like a nice girl, but I thought she was very average looking and I didn’t give her much notice. Ray was a playboy, and we were used to seeing him bring a new date to the Mansion every week. And so what happened to the other girls happened with Bridget; after a couple dates with Ray, the “relationship” ended. On one Sunday movie night, I saw Bridget crying in the corner of the great hall, and I asked her if she was okay. Then I approached Ray and asked what happened. He had gone out with her a couple of times, and I guess she read more into it than there was.
After her break-up with Ray, out of pity or habit, the girl was invited to come over to the Mansion for Fun in the Sun. Because Ray was not interested, Bridget moved onto the next obvious man—Hef. She liked costumes, so she would dress up whenever the occasion allowed; for Cinco de Mayo, she dressed up as Carmen Miranda; for Fourth of July, she was the Statue of Liberty. Although I thought the costumes were tacky, Hef found these tactics charming. Again, out of habit or desire to get laid, Hef invited Bridget to go out with us one night. We happened to see Ray that night at Barfly, and it was obvious to everyone but Hef that Bridget was trying to make him jealous. She was dancing with Hef and giving him kisses, all the while watching to see how Ray reacted. But Ray had found himself another young wannabe starlet and did not pay attention; he seemed relieved to have Bridget off his back. She then concentrated wholeheartedly on Hef; she regularly watched old movies with him on Fridays and Saturdays, and was a very willing bedroom participant. It wasn’t like Hef met her, was immediately attracted to her, and had to have her move in; it was a slow, gradual process. I think she realized that if she put in the time and made herself the perfect companion, she would get into the group. She was always there, cheery, unthreatening, and before we knew it, she was one of the Girlfriends.
In October 2002, a Halloween party scandal got Tammy kicked out of the Mansion. Tammy had been there the longest of anyone and wanted to stay until she accomplished her goal of becoming a Playmate. If Tina could do it, then she could as well. But it was not to be. It all started when I finally agreed to hang out with Tammy outside of the Mansion. She asked me to come with her to a party in Malibu that a friend of hers was having. I was not busy, and of course my love for Malibu meant I didn’t need an excuse to spend time there, particularly in a house that belongs to Sting in the Malibu Colony. That is when I met Jason Davis; Jason is the grandchild of billionaire Marvin Davis, and brother of Brandon Davis (Mischa Barton’s former boyfriend). Tammy said Jason was nice but heavy-set. Tammy had this brilliant plan that she would get his butt in shape, marry him, and live happily ever after. I liked Jason, he had a unique sense of humor and a sweetness about him. We became friends instantly. The party was fun; Paris Hilton was there with Jason Shaw, her boyfriend at the time, and hottie Mark McGrath, of Sugar Ray, was there, but he was with his girlfriend. We ended up staying too late and got in trouble when we got in past our curfew. We ran up to Hef’s bedroom and started making excuses for why we were late, but Hef knew I wasn’t to blame. He knew it was Tammy and that I was just along for the ride.
A couple of days after that incident, Tammy came to me with a favor. She wanted me to put Jason Davis on my Halloween party guest list. Hef allowed all of the Girlfriends to invite a few (about five or so) friends or family members to each party. It was made clear to us that we should invite girls, so inviting guys was a bit tricky—it was best to pair them up with a girl unless they themselves were celebrities or had some sort of “value” to Hef. Since the day I met Jason, he called me every day and we had become friends, so I was happy to put Jason on my guest list. However, Tammy then asked if I could also put one of Jason’s friends on the list. I told her I couldn’t do it because I wanted to invite some of my friends; plus, it would be hard to have another guy on my list. That is when she told me about the money. She said that those guys were paying her $1,000 each to put them on the list and that she would give me half if I agreed to put them on my guest list—she would keep the other half as a finder’s fee. The thing was, Jason was my friend and I would not take money from him to invite him to the party. But he really wanted his friend to come, and since the payment for that was already arranged with Tammy, I thought I might as well try to get his friend in, and if I was to get anything in return for that, it was just a bonus. One day after Jason and I had lunch together, we went shopping and I saw a Gucci watch I considered buying. Jason offered to buy it for me in appreciation for putting his friend on the list, and I accepted it. I later realized Tammy did not have space to put Jason on her list because she had bigger fish to fry. Apparently she was going to try to get Brandon Davis in for a lot more money, and if I would put Jason and his friend on my list, she didn’t have to do a thing but was still making money. I had been told that Brandon was not welcome at the Mansion because it was the place where he got a bit out of control at the last party he attended.
If that had been it, maybe she could have gotten away with it. But when Emma and Lea found out about this scam, they did the same thing except they charged people even more money, something like $2,000 a person to get them on the list. From what I know, Roxy got wind of it and because she had nothing to gain, she told Holly about it. Holly promptly reported it to Mary and Hef. And then came the official summons from Hef. We were each called in to have a private discussion with Hef in his office. We were scared because we knew someone was going to go down for this. When I went to speak with him, he asked me what happened. I told him the truth as far as it concerned me, and I never blamed anyone; I never pointed to Tammy as the ringleader. I told him that the people on my list were actually my friends, and I admitted that though I knew Jason’s friend, I only invited him because of Jason. I told him that Tammy arranged to receive $2,000 for getting Jason and his friend into the party, and I was to get half of it. I told him I did not know the details of Tammy’s other arrangements. I told him about the watch, and Mary told me to give it to her, but I told her I would just pay Jason back for it because I was going to buy it anyway. And I did pay him after the whole thing fell apart. I don’t know what the other girls told Hef, but I imagine they did what they had to in order to save themselves. Needless to say, the Halloween guest list was scrapped and we weren’t allowed to invite anyone. In the end, I was disappointed with myself for getting sucked into that whole thing. Jason and I continued to be good friends, and I tried to clear his name with Mary and Hef, but my efforts were futile.
We knew something bad would go down. Tammy, Emma, and I went out for some margaritas to talk things over and de-stress, but instead we got drunk and came up with a crazy idea: we were going to get tattoos. We drove over to Shamrock Tattoo on Sunset Boulevard and got little pink Playboy bunny tattoos by Chris Garver of the new reality show
Miami Ink
. Emma and I each got one on our “lower abdomen,” and Tammy on her ankle. We went home and showed Hef our battle scars, wanting to show our devotion and our apology. He seemed amused, but I knew it wasn’t enough. The Halloween party went on as usual, we had a lot of fun, and for a moment I wondered if all was forgiven. But it was not: immediately afterward, Tammy was asked to leave.
When we broke any of the rules, Hef would act very disappointed and make us feel bad. It seemed like he loved making us feel guilty. But the thing was, if anyone started crying, he would back off and be sweeter than ever. I remember I had a fight with him once about something minor; Hef confronted me and we got into an argument. Being an emotional person, I started crying. He walked out of my room, but came back twenty minutes later to give me a hug and to tell me he loved me very much and he wanted us all to be happy. I could tell that this was not going to be one of those situations. I felt like this was Holly’s silent victory. I heard her tell Hef what a troublemaker Tammy is, and Hef finally let Tammy go. I could tell Hef was sad to see her leave; I knew he cared about her. He was also sorry to see her pets go; after all, he had bought her Pinky, the capuchin monkey, just a few months earlier. But he didn’t want one bad apple to spoil the rest of the group.
In my opinion, Tammy was not fond of Bridget, and Bridget was intimidated by her and kept out of her way. Tammy’s leaving gave Bridget courage to push for official Girlfriend status. At about the same time, Lea left; with her goals accomplished, she didn’t want to stick around. So when Bridget finally moved in, our steady group was formed: Holly, Emma, Susan, Roxy, Bridget, and me. This was the group that was together the longest and is most prominently featured in my story. We only had one more change later when, in 2003, Hef let Roxy go right before Playboy’s fiftieth anniversary celebration. For the next six months, it was just five of us until a girl named Candy moved in for a year. Candy tried to stay neutral and remain under the radar. Even after she left, she continued to hang out with Hef and the girls. After she left, it was just the five of us: Holly and Bridget on one side, and Emma, Susan, and me on the other. That was when tensions reached their peak. A few months later, immediately before we all left in May 2004, Hef met an 18-year-old named Kendra and she was the last to move in. Since then it has just been the three of them, Holly, Bridget, and Kendra, the girls featured on the current reality show
The Girls Next Door
on the E! network.
7: The Fabulous Life
“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.”
—Mae West
T
he first few months at the Mansion, we partied like rockstars. We went out to clubs three or four nights a week, we attended events, and we hosted parties at the Mansion. We drank too much, stayed up until morning, and then slept until the afternoon. Then we would get up to go to the beauty salon where an army of people attended to us, to prepare for another night out. One person would be blow-drying the hair, another would begin curling the dry pieces, another was painting our nails, while yet another was giving us pedicures; somewhere in between we would get our makeup done as well. All this while trying to eat something—thank God they served food! This easily took four hours. However, if hair color touch-up was needed as well, then you would have to be there for at least six hours. We seriously overdid it with the salon at the beginning because we knew Hef expected us to look good and we wanted to please him. We were spoiled, but we knew how lucky we were, and we were grateful to Hef. We were young; we had money, cars, and all the nice things money can buy. We also had time.
We learned pretty quickly that everything at the Mansion revolved around a routine. Hef spends every day of the week in the office—not his office, but Mary’s. She sits at the desk, while he is usually sitting on the floor with his back against an office couch. However, every single evening has a specific designation and is rarely altered. Mondays are “Manly Nights,” which means Hef’s “manly” (his term) friends come over for dinner and a movie. They have a special menu to choose from, and afterward they eat and chat. This is the only night when Hef lets his friends choose the movie by a vote, and it’s usually a classic. Tuesdays are “Family Night,” when Hef’s sons Marston and Cooper come over with their mom, Kimberly, and, with Hef, they have dinner and watch
The Simpsons
. To my surprise, this did not last very long; they would leave early and Hef usually spent the rest of the night playing Monopoly with Holly and Bridget. It was strange to me that he didn’t play a game with the kids or spend more time with them instead of the Girlfriends. Wednesdays, Hef plays cards with a few of his guy friends, and then he and us girls would go out at 10 p.m. Thursdays were usually unplanned; this was the night Hef used to take us out for dinner, and we got to pick the restaurant. I loved going out for dinner with Hef; it was a night out, but it was intimate, and we were all able to talk and bond. And because Hef let us pick the restaurant, we got to go to some of our favorite places, such as Asia de Cuba, Koi, Katana, Boa, Mastros, or Morton’s. Friday is “Casablanca Club,” when several of Hef’s friends and guests come over for cocktails, buffet dinner, and a movie from the ‘30s or ‘40s. After the movie we would gather downstairs and go out to a nightclub. On Saturdays, Hef usually works on his scrapbooks; in the evening, like on Friday, there is a buffet dinner and a classic movie. Sundays, he plays backgammon at “Fun in the Sun,” followed by buffet dinner starting at 5:30 and a movie at 7. Sunday night is the only night Hef watches a current movie; it is usually a new release that is in theatres.
Our official obligations were limited to going out on Wednesday night and Friday night. Occasionally there was dinner on Thursday, which I always enjoyed. And very rarely something came up on Saturday nights. Hef also expected us to be around for “Fun in the Sun” on Sundays, but I usually got out of that by making a quick ten-minute appearance. It was very relaxing and fun and I used to love it when I first moved in, but I just couldn’t sit in the sun all day long. It was also a day Justin had off, so I usually spent some time with him on that day. Hef would constantly come up with ways for us to spend more time together, which Emma and I automatically axed unless it was something we really wanted to do. We already spent three or four nights together, and that was enough, not because of how we felt about Hef, but because of the drama that was bound to arise among the girls. There were many times I literally did not see Hef for two or three days.