Jenny McCarthy has revealed the reason she didn’t participate in A&E’s documentary exposé about the Playboy house.
The 49-year-old former Playmate admitted on the #NoFilter with Zack Peter podcast that she was not only asked to be interviewed on “Secrets of Playboy,” but was asked to host it. McCarthy claimed she eventually declined the invitation on their sixth request.
“I didn’t have the same experiences, so I wouldn’t sign up for a paycheck and be lecherous if I hadn’t experienced those things,” she reasoned.
The Masked Singer jury first posed as the magazine’s Playmate of the Month in 1993, was named Playmate of the Year in 1994, and appeared sporadically in the publication through 2012.
“And hearing their stories broke my heart for many of these women,” McCarthy said.
Former Playboy Bunnies – including the star of “Girls Next Door” and Holly Madison, Hugh Hefner’s estranged fiancée – recently spoke about assault and misconduct under Playboy’s supervision.
Madison even called “hell” sex with Hefner a “job” in her new podcast, “Girls Next Level” – which she hosts with fellow “Next Door” star Bridget Marquardt – and said the women were trying to get through the intimacy. “as soon as possible.”
“I am so thankful that Hef was married when I was there [to Kimberly Conrad] and it was run like a strict dorm room,” McCarthy continued on Peter’s podcast. “Like, we weren’t even allowed near Hef or around the house. It was almost like a Catholic school, to be honest.”
“There were no orgies or big parties going on,” she claimed. “So I think I went in there at a time that was pretty safe for me. But it was really hard to hear the stories of some of these girls.”
During the podcast, McCarthy also ruled that her one-season co-hosting stint on “The View” was her hardest job ever.
She was brought to the show in 2013 when co-host Elisabeth Hassleback and Joy Behar were fired for being “too polarizing,” recalls McCarthy. Executives wanted to stray from creator Barbra Walters’ political bits and engage in more pop culture-based discussions.
“They were like, we want to freshen up, we want someone to do light, pop culture, fluffy,” McCarthy recalled. “I’m a fluff.”
“I don’t want to be a fighter…I’m not going to die on a hill for a politician or a pop star’s crusade, there are far more important things in life than fighting over everything that happens in the world,” she reasoned her short-lived presence on the show.
McCarthy previously revealed that Walters made her time on the show “miserable” in her 2019 interview for entertainment journalist Ramin Setoodeh’s all-encompassing book “Ladies Who Punch.” When asked to clarify those statements, McCarthy stuck to her original statements – adding that she somewhat sympathized with the veteran broadcaster’s gruff demeanor.
“I knew what I was getting into. I wish there was a little more context, but I knew exactly what I was saying,” she replied. “I feel like they made it seem like I was being too strict for Barbara, when I actually feel the most sorry for her. Like, I love Barbara. Like she was my girl.”
‘Was I afraid of her? That’s right! Who wouldn’t be, you know? She yelled at me several times. But at least with Barbara you know what you got,” she continued. “It came from, I don’t know how to say this, a sad place. I felt sorry for it. While other things that happened at ‘The View’ were just dark.”
McCarthy went on to say that she had “great times with Whoopi” Goldberg, but found that the star of “Sister Act” was not one to be in the spotlight.
“I just saw the dynamism of Barbara being her last year and Barbara wanting to take charge for some things and I felt bad because Whoopi wouldn’t give up that seat,” she added, “and I thought, ‘You’re going to stay here long, give it to Barbara.’ ”