The Moment Hugh Hefner Chose to 'Phase Out' Anna Nicole Smith from 'Playboy'

In PEOPLE's Secrets of Playboy sneak peek, close associates of Hugh Hefner claim Anna Nicole Smith, the 1993 Playmate of the Year, was allegedly "up for grabs" for the men at a party

Hugh Hefner may have cultivated a 24/7/365 party lifestyle for himself and his friends, but the party eventually stopped for the women surrounding him.

In PEOPLE's exclusive sneak peek at Monday's episode of Secrets of Playboy, titled "The Shadow Mansions," Playboy party regulars Jennifer Saginor and Jackie Hatten describe an evening when they realized even someone as famous as Anna Nicole Smith was "disposable" in the eyes of Hefner and his cronies.

The women were at a party at the home of Dr. Mark Saginor, Jennifer's father and Hefner's personal physician.

"There was like 10, 15 girls living at my father's house. Literally they would just come, one by one, down the staircase," says Jennifer, whose experiences growing up at Hefner's Los Angeles estate were detailed in her 2005 book Playground: A Childhood Lost Inside the Playboy Mansion.

"It just seemed like all the girls were on the menu," claims Hatten. "Even Anna Nicole. I got the feeling when we were at the party that she was up for grabs for whoever."

Hugh Hefner Anna Nicole Smith
Alex Berliner/BEI/Shutterstock

But despite being named Playboy's 1993 Playmate of the Year, by the late '90s, Smith had apparently overstayed her welcome at the party.

"Anna Nicole was right around 30 at the time, and Hef made some comment like, you know, 'She's being phased out,' " recalls Hatten.

"That's how it works, even for someone like Anna Nicole Smith — they're used for a certain period of time, they are then easily disposable," Saginor explains.

"I believe that there's something exciting in meeting these young girls that would come from small towns that still kind of had that light in them, and watching them slowly burn that light out," she continues.

This sentiment has been a throughline in A&E's docuseries about Hefner's "circus" of sexual debauchery.

Sondra Theodore, Hugh Hefner
Sondra Theodore and Hugh Hefner. Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images

According to Sondra Theodore, Hefner's girlfriend from 1976–81, women at the Playboy Mansion "were just being used."

She shared in episode 8, "Predators' Ball," that Hefner and his friends "liquored 'em up, they gave 'em drugs and they ended up in the Jacuzzi, and it was a free-for-all."

The Playboy founder and his pals "were power predators," affirmed PJ Masten, who worked for Playboy from 1972–82. She continued, "And who set this ballroom up? [Hefner] had the drugs, he had the liquor, he had the women, he had everything at his disposal."

At the end of each episode of Secrets of Playboy, a statement reads: "This series contains allegations of wrongdoing over decades by Hugh Hefner and others associated with him. The vast majority of allegations have not been the subject of criminal investigations or charges, and they do not constitute proof of guilt."

Secrets of Playboy airs Mondays at 9 p.m. ET on A&E.

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