Crystal Hefner explains why she says goodbye to Hugh’s last name (except)

Hugh HefnerS widow, Crystal Hefnertalking entirely to Weekly US for Decision to drop the Playboy Founder’s famous last name, revealing that she finally felt “in the right place” to drop her past.

On Thursday, July 17, Crystal revealed to Us Why she goes back to her name before marrying Harris, eight years after Hugh’s death.

The model, which Hugh married in 2012, explained, “There has always been a lot of noise around why I kept Hefner’s name. I had so many people assuming he wanted attention or impact. But the truth is, it was much more personal and complex.

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Crystal, 39, said, “When you go through something as intense and laborious as that chapter of my life, you are not just snapping your fingers and reinventing yourself. You have to skin the layers back, face the trauma, and slowly come back to who you really are.”

Crystal Hefner explains why she saves farewell to Hugh's last name that once defined it
By the kindness of Crystal Hefner

The first Next door girls Star said, “I didn’t realize how many of myself I had lost. The name wasn’t a magnifying glass – it was a shadow I lived under it for years while I worked through everything that came with him.”

“And while there were moments, I thought about changing it sooner, I wasn’t already emotional,” Crystal told Us. “I had to recover me first, and that took time, strength, and lots of clarity. So no, it was not about attention. It was about survival, identity, and ultimately, healing.”

When asked why she now feels like the right time to change her name that brings such an iconic history, Crystal explained, she wanted to go back to her own roots: “I’m finally in a place where I feel a foundation, whole, and in peace. Changing my name is not about deleting the past – it’s about regaining my identity.”

“He returns home. Harris is who I was before the world told me who to be, and who I am now, after becoming a full circle,” he said.

Crystal Hefner explains why she saves farewell to Hugh's last name that once defined it
By the kindness of Crystal Hefner

Crystal said Us She sees the Change legal name As a “huge step” that is “emotional” and “symbolic.”

“It represents closure, clarity and the option of moving on to who I have come,” he explained. “It throws a name that once defined me and stepped into a version of myself that feels completely free, authentic and strong.”

Crystal said Us She will “always carry that part of my life,” but “that time in my life has passed.”

She said she was “ready for what’s next.”

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In terms of what the future has, Crystal told us that she is already planning her marriage with fiancée James Ward For spring 2026: “Somewhere near the ocean,” he said. “We haven’t completed all the details yet, but we take our time and enjoy the process.”

Crystal said her decision to change her name was not directly because of her upcoming marriage but said she was “perfectly co -right with this new chapter that we come in together.”

And even as Crystal and James, which she met in 2024, officially do him as a husband and wife, the author does his way and breaks away from the norm: “I keep my (last) name. I keep my identity,” he said.

“My relationship with James is rooted in love and respect, not a tradition for tradition. I know who I am, and that doesn’t change,” it came to an end.

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