Hef in a huff

The Playboy boss finds the Democrats' anti-Bunny behavior unbelievable -- and a tad hypocritical.

By Jake Tapper

Aug 11, 2000 | A lot of us in Los Angeles for the Democratic Convention are thinking quite a bit about Playboy these days, and not for the usual reasons. In a rather embarrassing pre-convention controversy, Democratic Party chair Joe Andrew retaliated against Rep. Loretta Sanchez, D-Calif., for not canceling or relocating a fundraiser for her political action committee, which was to be held at the Playboy Mansion in Bel Air. That is, until Friday evening when Sanchez caved and announced that the event would be relocated to a nearby Hollywood studio.

It had gotten real ugly. Sanchez's speaking role at next week's convention had been taken away. Democratic officials were contemplating other punishments, such as stripping her credential for the convention, removing her as co-chair of the Democratic National Committee, or even denying party funds for her November reelection campaign.

"They're not really gonna do that," Playboy founder Hugh Hefner said on Wednesday, reacting to the news. "They're not really gonna strip her of her credentials," Hef said, according to his vice president of public relations Cindy Rakowitz.

But indeed they might have.

Rakowitz said in an interview that her boss "just couldn't believe it."

After myriad efforts to get Sanchez to relocate the fundraiser, Andrew -- in consultation with the presidential campaign of Vice President Al Gore -- on Thursday found himself forced to "take action," in Andrew's words, stripping Sanchez of her prime-time speaking opportunity. Reached Friday afternoon in his Beverly Hills office, Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt said, "This whole episode reinforces my opinion that sex is more political than anything else."

It's all been heating up for the last few months. Gore, and his running mate Sen. Joseph Lieberman (Orthodox Jew-Conn.), plan on making values a centerpiece of their campaign, running as far as they can away from the president who has turned the Oval Office into his own little version of Hef's grotto. In that regard, Sanchez's event was waaaaaay off message.

As a last warning before he took away her speaking slot, DNC honcho Andrew wrote to Sanchez, "As a father of young children, I tried to convey to you my dismay at the kind of message that this event would send. As the National Chairman of the Democratic Party, I told you how Democratic State Chairs, Latinos, leaders of women's groups and just plain Democrats have called and told me that this event was neither appropriate nor reflective of our Party's values. But you refused to budge."

Continuing her refusal, Sanchez held a press conference Thursday in which she said that "the board of directors of Hispanic Unity USA has decided to proceed with the fundraiser next Tuesday, and I support that decision. We selected a high profile venue to highlight the important work of Hispanic Unity USA. The event has sold out and it will be a success."

With 600 invitations going for $5,000 apiece, the fundraiser event for Hispanic Unity USA could garner up to $3 million. Then -- the capitulation. After two days of fleeing reporters in a white SUV that recalled another Los Angeles-area scandal, Sanchez said that her relocation of the event "in no way reflects anything other than appreciation to the Hefners and to Playboy Enterprises....Sometimes there is discord and disagreement....But I want you to know that sponsors and donors and in particular the Hefners are with us in this move."

From inside the Playboy Mansion, the whole controversy has been received with a bit of wonder. And with the observation that "there seems to be some hypocrisy here," according to Rakowitz.

Hugh and Christie Hefner, CEO of Playboy Enterprises, "are lifelong liberal Democrats, and they've supported numerous Democratic candidates and causes," says Playboy national director of communications Bill Farley. "They're very disappointed and upset that his home -- the flagship of operation, the Playboy Mansion -- is not considered 'acceptable' for a fundraising event for a wonderful cause."

Just this spring, Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, spoke at a fundraiser at Christie Hefner's Chicago penthouse apartment on behalf of a U.S. House candidate, Illinois state Sen. Lauren Beth Gash.

"He was very warm to Christie" at the event, reports a Playboy executive.

But that warm front turned cold, and speaking on July 18 about the Sanchez fundraiser on National Public Radio, Kennedy said that the fundraiser "totally contradicts what our party stands for in terms of equal rights, civil rights for all people and respecting the human dignity of every individual. That's why I will not be attending. Nor will I be encouraging any of my colleagues to attend. In fact, I'll be discouraging them."

According to Farley, "Christie Hefner was incensed" after she heard of his remarks. "She sent him a very strong note expressing her feelings."

Without going into the Kennedy family's spotty record on "respecting the human dignity of every individual" -- Kennedy, you might recall, did find it in his heart to attend William Kennedy Smith's Palm Beach rape trial -- Farley says that "you can go back to the Bible on that one, there are several axioms that apply. 'First cast the beam from thine own eye.' Or, alternatively, 'Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone.'"

Next Page: A list of Democrats who take Playboy's dirty money

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