While a few high-profile Playmates and exes of Hugh Hefner spoke out about the alleged misconduct that went down at the Playboy Mansion on A&E’s “Secrets of Playboy,” Jenny McCarthy wasn’t one of them — though, according to her, it wasn’t for a lack of trying by the producers.
Appearing on the #NoFilter with Zack Peter podcast, McCarthy claimed she was contacted to not only appear on the docuseries but host it, before sharing why she didn’t take them up on the offer.
“They had asked me to host that show. They wanted me to really be involved. And be an executive producer and be involved in it — numerous times!” she explained, saying she finally told them no after the sixth time they reached out.
“I love the production company, I’m gonna put that out there because I do love them, who did it. But because I didn’t have the same experiences, so I wasn’t going to sign up for a paycheck and be salacious when I didn’t experience those things,” McCarthy continued. “And hearing their stories, my heart broke for a lot of these women.”
McCarthy first posed as Playmate of the Month for the magazine back in 1993, was named Playmate of the Year in 1994 and continued to appear in the publication sporadically through 2012.
“I’m so grateful that when I was there, Hef was married [to Kimberly Conrad] and it was kind of run like a strict dormitory. Like, we weren’t even allowed near Hef or around the house,” claimed McCarthy. “It was almost like Catholic school, to be honest. There were no orgies or big parties going on. So I think I went in there in a window of time that was kind of safe for me. But hearing some of these girls’ stories was really rough.”
During the podcast, McCarthy also opened up about her time on “The View,” which she called one of her most “challenging” jobs. Jenny joined the panel for just one season from 2013-2014, after the show let go of Joy Behar and Elisabeth Hasselbeck.
“‘The View’ was really tough. Initially when I was hired, they got rid of Joy and Elisabeth, because they said it was too polarizing, they were tired of being polarizing. They were like, we want to freshen up, we want someone to do light, pop culture, fluffy. I am fluff,” she said. “I don’t want to be a fighter … I’m not gonna die on a hill for a politician or a pop star’s crusade, there’s way more important things in life than to fight about every single thing that is going on in the world.”
But, according to McCarthy, tackling pop culture topics wasn’t a good fit for Barbara Walters. “Barbara’s wheelhouse was cutthroat issues, that’s why she created the view, and her memory was going a little bit, so pop culture people weren’t sticking as much,” she added, saying the show switched back to political coverage, leading to her exit.
In author Ramin Setoodeh’s tell-all book, “Ladies Who Punch: The Explosive Inside Story of The View,” McCarthy said her time as cohost was “the most miserable I’ve been on a job in my twenty-five years of show business.” She went on to compare Walters to “Mommie Dearest” and claimed Whoopi Goldberg was “controlling.” Appearing on the podcast, she was asked if she wanted to clarify any comments she made in the book.
“Being interviewed for that book, I knew what I was getting into. I wish there was a little bit more context, but I knew exactly what I was saying,” she answered. “I feel like they made it seem like I was being too hard on Barbara, when really I have the most compassion for her. Like, I love Barbara. Like, she was my girl.”
“Was I scared of her? Heck yeah! Who wouldn’t be, you know? She’s yelled at me numerous times. But with Barbara at least you know what you were getting,” she continued. “It came from, like, I don’t know how to say this, a sad place. I felt compassion for it. Whereas, other things that happened at ‘The View’ were just dark.”
Of Whoopi, she said that the two did get along, but she felt Goldberg didn’t give Walters enough of the spotlight.
“I just saw the dynamic of Barbara being her last year and Barbara wanting to lead for some things and I felt bad because Whoopi didn’t want to give up that seat,” she added, “and I thought, you’re going to be here a long time, give it to Barbara. I had some great times with Whoopi.”
Watch the full interview with McCarthy below:
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