Hugh Hefner’s Widow Crystal Drops His Famous Last Name Ahead of Wedding (Excl)

Hugh Hefner’s widow, Crystal Hefner, filed court documents to drop the Playboy founder’s famous last name ahead of her upcoming wedding, Us Weekly can exclusively report.
On Thursday, July 17, Crystal, 39, filed a petition in Los Angeles Superior Court to legally change her name from Crystal Margaret Hefner to Crystal Margaret Harris.
“I am a widow and reclaiming my maiden name,” she wrote in her filing.
Crystal married Hugh in 2012 and was by his side when he died in 2017 at the age of 91.

Crystal Hefner and Hugh Hefner Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Playboy
Last month, Crystal spoke out on social media about her desire to go back to her maiden name.
She said she had struggled to get her Instagram handle changed back to Harris instead of Hefner.

Related: ‘Healed’ Crystal Hefner Is Happier Than Ever With New Boyfriend James Ward

After her traumatic five-year marriage to Hugh Hefner, Crystal Hefner didn’t expect to find romance and to be in a “healthy relationship” — but then she met James Ward. “I’ve done a lot of healing that was very necessary since the mansion,” Crystal, 38, exclusively reveals in the latest issue of Us Weekly while dishing on her recent […]

“To everyone I’ve had to block: I’m exhausted. If you’ve harassed me, you’re gone. I don’t owe anyone access to my peace,” Crystal wrote. “But to those who are here with open hearts, who genuinely support my journey — thank you.”
Crystal said she had embraced the Hefner name for a period of time. She explained, “The media and the trolls of the world told me I wasn’t enough without the name, without the house, without the image. I came from nothing. I had spent a lifetime feeling small. So I clung to the story I was fed. And it worked — for a while.”

The model admitted she accomplished a lot with the Hefner name. She said she made “eight figures” and “launched businesses.” She added, “But here’s the thing — none of that was ever about the name. It was about me. And now, I want my name back. Crystal Margaret Harris. Not because I’m ashamed of who I was — but because I finally know who I am.”

Crystal Hefner MediaPunch/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images
In her recent memoir, Crystal admitted, “I was never in love with Hef, but I loved this old man in the ways you are supposed to love your elders.”

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As Us first reported, Crystal got engaged in May to marine biologist James Ward. The two have been together since 2024, and both live in Hawaii.
“It truly feels like a full-circle moment. James completely surprised me. He had a hidden staircase and a winding trail cleared to reveal a handcrafted deck perched above a dramatic cliffside overlooking the ocean,” Crystal told Us at the time.

She said, “It was the exact spot where we’d had a quiet picnic together a year ago — a place that became ‘ours.’ I had no idea he was secretly turning it into something permanent and symbolic. I thought we were just going for a walk, but when I saw the flowers, the handwritten notes, and the sea stretching endlessly in front of us, I knew something extraordinary was about to happen.”