Playboy founder, publishing giant and cultural icon Hugh Hefner has passed away at 91. According to the New York Times, he went peacefully at his home, the infamous Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles on Wednesday (September 27).
His death was announced by Playboy Enterprises.
After leaving his job as a copy editor at Esquire in 1952, the Chicago native took out a $600 bank loan, borrowed $1,000 from his mother and raised an additional $7,000 to launch Playboy Magazine. The first issued was published in 1953 when Hefner was 27-years-old. Circulation of the publication reached one million by 1960 and peaked at around seven million in the ’70s.
The rest is history.
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Hef, as he was commonly referred to, became synonymous with the Playboy brand. He was renowned for his infamous parties at the Playboy Mansion and consistently mingled with the entertainment world’s biggest celebrities.
Social media erupted with tributes and countless Hip Hop artists took to Twitter to send their condolences, including Questlove, Juicy J, Cypress Hill’s B-Real, iLoveMakonnen, Blockhead and TM88.
