“They came around and offered me a million dollars, which I had to seriously consider,” one star says, while two other celebs claim the magazine used photos of them without their consent.
At its peak, Playboy featured some of the biggest celebrities in the world, including Madonna and Cindy Crawford. For some, it was an incredible honor to be asked to pose for the magazine, even if it meant stripping down for the risqué outlet. But for others, appearing in the mag was a hard pass — no matter how much money they were offered. In fact, one celebrity says Playboy wanted to pay her $1 million for a pictorial. She ended up turning them down, and so did several other famous faces.
Find out why these stars said no to Playboy…
Lady Gaga
While Lady Gaga doesn’t mind wearing a revealing outfit, she says Playboy just isn’t for her. Back in 2009, Gaga shared that she turned down an offer from the magazine — but joked that she may reconsider if she ever had something to promote. So far, no project has convinced her to strip down for the mag.
“I mean, if I was a glamour model, I would be delighted [with Playboy’s offer], but for me it’s all about the music,” Gaga said at the time, jokingly adding, “Ask me again, though, when I have a new album to plug.”
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Katy Perry
Katy Perry has posed for other gentlemen’s magazines like FHM, but she says she doesn’t have an interest in doing Playboy. Back in 2008, she said that she didn’t want to follow in the footsteps of other famous faces that appeared in the magazine.
“I don’t want to go all [Kim] Kardashian,” Katy said, before adding that she understands why she’d gotten the offer. “I’ve got boobs and I’m not going to chop them off, so I guess people will talk about them.”
Jessica Alba
Jessica Alba may have appeared on the cover of Playboy — but she claimed she didn’t consent to her appearance. Back in 2006, she was voted one of the “25 Sexiest Celebrities” of the year and was asked to pose for the publication. Jessica declined, but the mag ended up using a bikini photo from another outlet. She almost took legal action against the company but ultimately decided against it after Hugh Hefner sent a personal apology and pledged to donate money to her favorite charities.
“In light of Mr. Hefner’s personal apology for Playboy’s unauthorized use of my photo on their cover, I have decided to discontinue my claims against them,” Jessica said in a statement. “This was never about money, it was about setting the record straight about something that was done without my knowledge or consent.”
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Paris Hilton
Paris Hilton also claimed she appeared on the cover of Playboy without her consent. For years, Hugh Hefner had asked Paris to shoot for the magazine, but she declined. Although she thought it would have been “awesome,” her mother, Kathy Hilton, didn’t approve and thought it was “so trashy.”
“Hef really wanted me to do a Playboy cover,” Paris wrote in Paris: The Memoir. “He kept offering me more and more money, saying I wouldn’t have to be totally naked, just topless. And then saying, I didn’t have to be topless, just sheer. And then saying I could wear whatever lingerie I wanted. Even when he offered seven figures, I turned it down because I knew my mom would lose her mind. I had already been branded as a slut after the sex tape. I felt like a Playboy pictorial would just cement that in people’s minds.”
Despite repeatedly declining the opportunity, Paris ended up on the cover in 2005 after being voted their Sex Star of the Year Award. The magazine reportedly purchased Paris’ old photos from a private test shoot with a photographer, and because it was about her award, the outlet claimed it was news and not a pictorial. Although her family was upset, they didn’t pursue legal action.
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Melissa Joan Hart
Early on in her career, Melissa Joan Hart said she was offered a hefty amount of money to pose for Playboy. While she says she had to seriously consider it, she ended up turning it down because she had previously posed for Maxim in her underwear and didn’t like how it was received.
“With my Maxim cover — I almost began regretting that in 1999 because it blew up into this huge scandal where I was going to be fired and sued. I was 23 years old…and I went through a time where I was a little wild. I actually showed up at the photoshoot from the Playboy Mansion, so it was like, ‘Oh big deal — bra and panties, that’s what I saw everybody in all night,’” she told Page Six.
She continued, “I learned that I didn’t want to do Playboy. They came around and offered me a million dollars, which I had to seriously consider. Initially it’s like, ‘Yeah, I’ll take my clothes off for a million bucks, are you kidding?’ It’s the big question: what will you do for a million dollars? But I decided that because of the reaction I got from Maxim I wasn’t comfortable — and my brother had that cover shoved in his face for months. That made me say no.”
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Kelly Osbourne
Kelly Osbourne once said she was interested in posing for Playboy, but when she actually got an offer, she turned it down. She says that at the time, she didn’t think it was the right choice for her and didn’t want her family to see those kinds of photos of her.
“It was the second time they have asked and respectfully I declined, as I don’t feel it’s the right thing for me. I know if I ever decided to do something like that I’d want it to be tasteful and done very beautifully. But still I turned it down — I wouldn’t want my father or brother Jack to open up a magazine and see me naked!” she shared.
Nelly Furtado
When Nelly Furtado was in her early 20s, she said she was offered half a million dollars to pose for Playboy — and she didn’t even have to take her clothes off. The singer explained that she thought it was too soon in her career to do something like that, adding that she’d be open to it later in her career. So far, at age 46, Nelly has not appeared in the mag.
“The magazine was even prepared to pay me $500,000 to pose with my clothes on. I didn’t want Playboy on my resumé at the age of 22. If they ask me when I’m 40, I’ll probably say yes,” she told the Daily Mail.
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Jennifer Love Hewitt
Jennifer Love Hewitt says she was offered a spread in Playboy magazine, but she wasn’t interested. The actress reportedly received the request back in 2008, shortly after she was body shamed for looking too curvy in a bikini. Hugh seemed to be a fan of her look and offered her the photoshoot but she turned it down.
“There was an offer, but she declined,” her rep told Us Weekly at the time.
Mel B
Former Spice Girl Mel B said she’s been asked to pose for Playboy on numerous occasions, but she’s turned them down every time. While they’ve offered her a major amount of money, she says she’s just not ready.
“They’re offering me a ridiculous amount of money but I’m just not ready to do it…I’ll consider it in the future when I feel the time’s right,” she shared back in 2009.
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Brooke Hogan
Hulk Hogan’s daughter, Brooke Hogan, declined an offer to pose for Playboy. While she had previously appeared in FHM Magazine in 2006, she thought it wasn’t the right time to appear in Playboy. At the time, she said she wasn’t ruling out future appearances — but as of now, she still hasn’t shot with the mag.
“Brooke just didn’t feel that it was the right time,” her rep told Us Weekly. “It’s not out of the question for the future, but we’ll have to see.”