Are You A Charlotte? - Inside The Playboy Mansion with Holly Madison...

Episode Date: February 13, 2026

Inspired by their visit to The Playboy Mansion in "Sex and Another City", The Girls Next Door star Holly Madison takes us behind closed doors.  Just like Charlotte, Holly shares details of her first ever visit to the Playboy Mansion and what each night was like once she was living inside.   They discuss this episode of Sex and the City and they aren’t afraid to talk about sex at the Playboy Mansion.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Over the last couple years, didn't we learn that the folding chair was invented by black people? Because of what happened in Alabama? This Black History Month, the podcast, Selective Ignorance with Mandy B, unpacked black history and culture with comedy, clarity, and conversations that shake the status quo. The Crown Act in New York was signed in July of 2019, and that is a bill that was passed to prohibit discrimination based on hairstyles associated with race. To hear this and more.

Listen to Selective Ignorance with Mandy B from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. I'm Bowen-Yen. And I'm Matt Rogers. During this season of the Two Guys' Five Rings podcast, in the lead-up to the Milan-Cortina-26 Winter Olympic Games,

we've been joined by some of our friends. Hi, Brian, hi, how Matt, how Matt. Hey, Elmo. Hey, Matt, hey, Bowen. Hi, Cookie. Hi. Now, the Winter Olympic Games are underway, and we are in Italy to give you experience.

chances from our hearts to your ears. Listen to two guys, five rings on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. In the middle of the night, Saskia awoke in a haze. Her husband, Mike, was on his laptop. What was on his screen would change Saskia's life forever. I said, I need you to tell me exactly what you're doing. And immediately, the mask came off. You're supposed to be safe.

That's your home. That's your husband. Listen to Betrayal Season 5 on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 1969, Malcolm and Martin are gone. America is in crisis. And at Morehouse College, the students make their move. These students, including a young Samuel L. Jackson, locked up the members of the Board of Trustees, including Martin Luther King's senior. It's the true story of protests and rebellion in black American history. that you'll never forget.

I'm Hans Charles. I'm in a Nicolik Lamouba. Listen to the A-building on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Kristen Davis, and I want to know, Are You a Charlotte? Hi, everybody. Welcome to Are You a Charlotte? Today, we have the lovely Holly Madison,

who is going to talk to us about the L.A. episode, where we film at the Playboy Mansion. She has obviously a lot of insight. And she's a television personality. You may know her from girls next door. And she's also a New York Times bestselling author, which I love. And she has a lot of fascinating things to say.

So enjoy this conversation with Holly Madison. Okay, this is very exciting. I'm so excited to talk to you. We've never talked before. I didn't get to meet you back in the day. But also, from what I understand, And when we film Sex and City at the Playboy Mansion, you had not moved in yet. Is that correct?

No, and I'm so bummed. I missed out on it. I got the opportunity to do cameos on some pretty iconic shows there. Like, we did entourage and curb your enthusiasm. But I just missed sex in the city, which is such a bummer because I'm such a big fan of it. Like, we watch that every week when I was at the mansion. You did? Yeah, we did.

Huff was a huge fan of it. Yeah. It's so strange because the whole. whole experience for me and for us in general was very surreal, very strange. Heff was very nice to us, like really sweet and very like almost like your uncle or something, you know? Like, it was hard to believe that he was him. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, that's how he comes off to most people. I mean, that's the person that I fell in love with. Obviously, my situation grew a lot more complicated. But, you know, Yeah.

It's interesting because, like, I also feel, and I personally had, like, such conflict, internal conflict about filming there and making it seem kind of like fun and light, I guess, would be the word, which is not, it's not like the vibe that I personally had about, about Playboy, though, at that point in time, things were getting, like, you guys were very mainstream, you know? Oh, yeah. Do you feel that? Yeah. And that episode came out in 2000 and Huff had been like, you know, he got got separated from his wife a few years earlier and started having the parties at the mansion again. And those were, you know, I always tell people like it's hard to believe, but those were like the cool parties in L.A. that you wanted to go to that were super hard to get into. And when I got invited to my first one, I was so excited. It was just such like a bucket list thing.

And how did you get invited? I was working for Hawaiian Tropic. And at one of the events, Huff's doctor came to the event. event and he said, I want to invite all these girls to the party. So I was super excited. Yeah. And was this one of the like pajama parties? Yeah. The first party I went to was their biggest party. It was called Mid-Summer Night's Dream. They had that every August. And it was kind of this like fairy themed like twinkle lights, Wonderland that they turned the backyard into. And it was real cool. And when we filmed there, we go to a party. It's kind of slightly confused.

because we arrive in the daytime. We're kind of wearing bathing suits. I don't know what the heck we were thinking in the costume department. I think we were confused, right? But it wasn't supposed to be the pajama party or the midsummer nights party. It was just some vague party.

When you watched the episode, did you think like, oh, that's accurate or though that's totally inaccurate or what were your thoughts? It's pretty accurate. Like I can't pinpoint, like you said, exactly what party that was supposed to be. Like, it's a little bit like

the fun and the sun pool party. but there were a lot more people there in your guys' scene, a lot more extras. The fun in the sun pool parties would have, like, girls come up and, like, enjoy the pool and everything. And heff and his friends would be playing backgammon by the pool. And some of his guy friends would be out on the tennis courts,

but it wouldn't be very many people at all, like less than 50 people. So they were pretty intimate. I would say the party I can compare the most to what you guys did was maybe, like, the 4th of July party, because that would be, like, a bigger daytime party. And then it would kind of move into, a nighttime party. That's kind of, I think that's the only party they threw that was like that,

that went from day to night. Interesting. And then, so in our scenes where we, we come in, and I think that we filmed things that didn't end up in the show, at least I remember things that I don't think were in the show. One was that we had this scene where we were walking in and, and there were people, you know, girls in assorted small bikinis, playing with bubbles. I don't know what the heck we were doing. But like what, how, what was regular life there like versus a party or when people would come, you know? Regular life, it was pretty quiet during like a weekday. But at the same time, it wasn't totally private, like a home either. I started giving tours at the mansion because they tours like a few times a week, like in the mornings on weekdays. And they would do it for like contest winners or like

military or people like that. And so I'm going to give people a tour of the grounds or whatever. And then one wing of the house was offices. So that's where Heff would go to work. And there was like a whole secretary staff down there. And then aside from his party, sometimes at night, they would rent out the backyard for like corporate events and things like that. So that would kind of be like a whole separate world. So that was kind of the day-to-day life of the house. For me and the other girls living there, we would just kind of during the day do whatever, you know, whatever shopping errands, you know, some of us were still in college or going to school and things like that. We would do that.

And then we had like a famous nine o'clock curfew. And, you know, there would be different activities every night a week, like a couple nights a week, like Wednesday and Friday, Huff would take us out to nightclubs. Wednesday night, yeah, Wednesday night was a club night. Thursday night, we would usually like go out. to a restaurant. Friday was a club night. Saturday and Sunday, he would have movie nights. Of course, Sunday during the day was a pool party. Monday, he would gather with like his guy friends and watch a movie. He called that manly night. So us girls didn't really have anything to do on Monday. And then

two things we would usually play like board games or something. So it was a whole variety. Wow. All over the place. Yeah. That is so fascinating. I need to read your book. I need to read your book and get all the details, because now I'm super interested. How many girls were there when you live there? Well, during the last four years, I was there when we were doing the Girls Next Door show. It was just three of us. But when I first moved in, he was kind of in this seven girlfriends era. And that was just a nightmare. When I was there for that, nobody got along. And it was a constant revolving door. So it wasn't even the same set of seven girls when I first moved in as there was like three or four years later. So it was this cast of characters that was just all really competitive.

And that was my least favorite time living there for sure. It was just a mess. Yeah. When we were there, there were a bunch of girls. I mean, probably they brought extras and whatever in. I don't know. They were all obviously gorgeous and, you know, whatnot, wearing small clothing. And we chatted with them, but not a lot.

Like they kind of had, they would put them in a separate place. And then we, our place that we were supposed to spend the day was the game room. Oh. It was so weird. It is. It's a top capsule out there. The game room was a whole separate, like, guest cottage on the property. And it was kind of this weird combination of, like, 70s arcade games and 80s arcade games.

And then Hef's girlfriend in the 70s, Barbie Benton had, like, decimated it, like, all old school, like, American antiques. So there was, like, weird mix. of like American antiques and like 70s, 80s pinball machines. Yes. And then there was this, okay, that's so crazy that it was Barbie Benton, who of course, like, you know, people of my generation know. There was like a pit, like a carpeted area with like a seating. The van room.

Yeah, what the heck was that? That was like a sex room on the side. And it had like a carpeted. That's where they put us, Holly. Yeah. Oh, no. In the van room. Yeah, we were scared.

We were scared. Okay. So I had like a carpeted mattress. floor with like pillows and then there were like mirrored walls and like the corners looked like mirrors but then if you turned on a light it would like the mirror would like disappear and it would be like sex statues would be we saw the sex statues we did see the sex statues and we were like why are we in here like because it was a long day right so they were trying to find somewhere like theoretically comfortable for us but we had a weird vibe in that room so I think we tried to move

Yeah, a lot of people thought that house was haunted, too. It definitely had a lot of, like, kind of dark energy, I would say. I mean, it's kind of a dark house as well. It's like an old dark house. But then, so, okay, oh, God, it's giving me stress just thinking about it. But when we went, okay, so let's think about the party itself on film. And I don't know whose idea it was, or I feel like the guys in our world were really into showing all this. right, like, you know, in the way, you know, that they would be. And there's, so the grotto is,

you know, part of, part of it. And as the night goes on, you're like, none of the girls have tops on and whatever. Is this what would happen? Sometimes, yeah, sometimes people would get a little crazier at night. But you know what was crazy about the parties is I always say that at the parties, I never saw anything too wild. I would hear about it. But like, as a girlfriend, I would always kind of have to be seated at the table with half, which would be over by the dance floor. And believe it or not, people would be more on their best behavior in front of him because everybody wanted to stay on the list. They wanted to get invited back. So it would be more like I would hear from other playmates that like, oh my God, I saw this in the grotto at 2 a.m.

But that wasn't the stuff we would see really. Got it. So what would good behavior be for half? Like, meaning guys wouldn't be too aggressive with you guys, not you, but the other non-girlfriends? Is that like, what was the, like, my thing that I felt upset. about because they wanted us to all go to a pajama party in some kind of agreement about us filming there. And I was like, I am not going to that pajama party. I don't understand this. Like that seems a weird situation to put myself in. I felt worried. And also you had to

wear some skimpy. I was just like, I can't even get my mind around this. And I don't know if that was really silly of me or not. You know what I'm saying? Like, what was the vibe in terms of the guy woman situation at the parties? I think for most guests, I mean, obviously I've heard stories that aren't this too, but I think for most guests, it was okay. I think if you were really having a problem with somebody, you could tell security and they would have them removed. I mean, I have to imagine having them removed would be easier for somebody who's more

of an anonymous guy and maybe not like a big celebrity. But I think it was a pretty safe place for most partygoers. Again, with the allowance that I've also heard that that hasn't been the case of some people. But I think for the most part, most people had a good experience at the point. Arties. Got it. Welcome to the A building. I'm Hans Charles. I'm Inalick Lamoma. It's 1969.

Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. had both been assassinated. And Black America was out of breaking point. Writing and protests broke out on an unprecedented scale. In Atlanta, Georgia at Martin's Almemata, Morehouse College, the students had their own protest. It featured two prominent figures in black history, Martin Luther King's senior and a young student,

Samuel L. Jackson. To be in what we really thought was a revolution. I mean, people would die. 1968, the murder of Dr. King, which traumatized everyone. The FBI had a role in the murder of a Black Panther leader in Chicago. This story is about protest. It echoes in today's world far more than it should, and it will blow your mind. Listen to the A-building on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts.

or wherever you get your podcasts. In the middle of the night, Saska awoke in a haze. Her husband, Mike, was on his laptop. What was on his screen would change Saskia's life forever. I said, I need you to tell me exactly what you're doing.

And immediately, the mask came off. You're supposed to be safe. That's your home. That's your husband. husband. To keep this secret for so many years, he's like a seasoned pro. This is a story about the end of a marriage, but it's also the story of one woman who was done living in the dark. You're a dangerous person who prays on vulnerable and trusting people. Your predator might go up and good.

Listen to Betrayal Season 5 on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. I'm Bowen-Yang. And I'm Matt Rogers. During this season of the Two Guys Five Rings podcast, in the lead-up to the Milan Quartina-26 Winter Olympic Games, we've been joined by some of our friends. Hi, Boen, hi, Matt, hi, Elmo. Hey, Matt, hey, Bowen. Hi, Cookie.

Hi. Now, the Winter Olympic Games are underway, and we are in Italy to give you experiences from our hearts to your ears. Listen to Two Guys Five Rings on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What do you do in the headlines don't explain what's happening inside of you? I'm Ben Higgins. And if you can hear me, is where culture meets the soul, a place for real conversation. Each episode, I sit down with people from all walks of life, celebrities, thinkers, and everyday folks.

And we go deeper than the polished story. We talk about what drives us, what shows. shapes us and what gives us hope. We get honest about the big stuff, identity when you don't recognize yourself anymore, loss that changes you, purpose when success isn't enough, peace when your mind won't slow down, fake when it's complicated. Some guests have answers. Most are still figuring it out.

If you've ever felt like there has to be more to the story, this show is for you. Listen to if you can hear me on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. So people did have a feeling of like, I want to be here. I want to get invited back. It's super fun. I'm sure there were drugs. And, but I'm still going to behave. Like as much as, you know, like, I'm not going to freak out.

Well, that's good to know because I didn't know what to think. I just remember all the guys I knew wanted to go, you know, and where it was seemed like, you know, for them, like for the men. You know what I'm saying? That's why I didn't really feel like, yes, I would like to put myself in that. in that situation, like at the time. Yeah, but it was also very interesting to be there in terms of, I felt at the time, you know, it was very much held up as being empowering for women in some way, but I feel like we don't think of it that way now that way, correct?

Yeah, I mean, I think that was what I bought into as well when I went there is like, you know, I want to have this experience as, you know, being in the magazine and being seen as sexy and whatever. And I was just in like the deepest, deepest, like inner, inner ring where it really wasn't liberating anymore. But I think that was generally, you know, Playboy was accepted as like this acceptable retro brand that like your dad grew up with and everything, you know, it seemed pretty tame at the time. Right. Right. It's interesting. It's interesting. But honestly, and this might be just like really too far. What I'm going to say, we could cut it out. But like, I thought my innocent little self, you know, when you guys did, did, because at the time that we filmed, you weren't there yet,

it wasn't the girls next door yet. And then when the girls next door happened, I thought it was all fake. Like, I just assumed you guys were not having to have sex with half. A lot of people thought that. Yeah. When I first, you know, moved in to the group and like agreed to like go out with half and everything, I still wasn't clear on what was going on. Like, I'm like, okay, there has to be something going on. So I'm going to go kind of check it out, see what it is. But I didn't know how much would be going on or it was very ambiguous because, you know, he'd be out there talking about how he takes Viagra all the time and these are all my girlfriends and things like that. But like people didn't really believe it.

They thought this has to be a publicity stunt. I did not. Yeah, I did not believe it. So no one explained it to you. Like no one said, this is what it is. No, not at all. Wow. Yeah.

So you just got sucked in, but little by little. Yeah, totally. I think when I talk about my situation and people were like, well, you knew what you were getting into, they're picturing that scene in 50 shades of gray where she sits down at the table and she's given like this big contract about the consent and what's going to happen. And there's nothing like that up there. It is kind of something you can get into like little by little and kind of like loots yourself. It's very unstructured in that way. Wow. Wow. I'm sorry that that happened to you and all the other people. You know? Yeah. And it was really held up as like, you know,

empowering for you guys and supporting you guys in your dreams and you know he seemed so kind of um just like fuddy-duddy-ish you know i mean he was wearing the weird clothes but like i remember when he he was filming with us he was very nice as i said like in a kind of an uncley kind of a way and then he got up and you were just like he's so little and old yeah you know but yet this other stuff was still going on which just really blows my mind yeah it was crazy for sure. And I have to say the scene you guys did there, the casting was so spot on because they have so many female extras. And I recognize some of them. Some of them were playmates. Some of them weren't. And then they have a few men sprinkled in there and the men are all super old. And the actor they

have you talking to when you're laying down on the pillows talking to the actor. He looks like he so fits the part like everything about his face and his teeth. Like he looks like he would be one of have sputties. Like, how did they know? I don't know. I don't know. I think they did a great job, too. And I had forgotten a lot of it. There's certain things I remember really well. Like, I remember the room that they put us in with the games and the sex statues. And I remember they kept trying to tell us that we wanted to go to the zoo. But I was so freaked out that he had wild animals there. That I was like, no, thank you. I don't want to go to the zoo. Like, it's weird. Like, but everyone was very nice to us, obviously. But when we went to do the

scene. I do remember being just so generally icked out. And I felt like that guy that I'm talking to wasn't even an actor. He just seemed fully, I mean, I'm sure he was. But like I felt like he was a guy that you would meet at a Hollywood party. Oh, he embodied it. Like that guy was so good. He really did too good. Too good. And I also didn't really remember what happened, which I often feel when I'm rewatching now because it's a while ago, obviously. And I remember the experience of, you know, of filming more than the scenes. And I thought, oh, no, what is Charlotte doing? Don't talk to that guy.

Ew. But that's good to know that you think we did a good job of casting it. That's good. Did you feel, because, okay, so you watched this particular episode that aired in 2000 before you lived there. And then once you lived there, did you feel like, oh, yeah, sexy city was pretty accurate or did you feel like, no? I think I thought it was accurate for sure, because it's just showing a party and it looked

exactly like what a party would look like. Of course, it doesn't capture everything about day-to-day life there, but it wasn't supposed to. It was just directors going to a party. So I thought it was super accurate. Oh, that's good. Welcome to the A building. I'm Hans Charles. I'm in a Nicolumbo. It's 1969. Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. had both been assassinated. And Black America was out a breaking point. Writing and protests broke out on an unprecedented scale. In Atlanta, Georgia at Martin's Almermata, Morehouse College, the students had their own protest. It featured two prominent figures in black history, Martin Luther King's senior, and a young student, Samuel L. Jackson. To be in what we really thought was a revolution.

I mean, people would die. In 1968, the murder of Dr. King, which traumatized everyone. The FBI had a role in the murder of a Black Panther leader in Shoeuvre. Chicago. This story is about protest. It echoes in today's world far more than it should, and it will blow your mind. Listen to the A-building on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. In the middle of the night, Saskia awoke in a haze. Her husband, Mike, was on his laptop. What was on his screen would change Saskia's life forever. I said, I need you to tell me exactly what you're doing.

And immediately, the mask came off. You're supposed to be safe. That's your home. That's your husband. To keep this secret for so many years, he's like a seasoned pro. This is a story about the end of a marriage. But it's also the story of one woman who was done living in the dark. You're a dangerous person who prays

on vulnerable and trusting people. Your creditor, Michael Leavengood. Listen to Betrayal Season 5 on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Bowen-Yin. And I'm Matt Rogers. During this season of the Two Guys' Five Rings podcast

in the lead-up to the Milan Cortina 2026 winner Olympic Games, we've been joined by some of our friends. Hi, Boin, hi Matt. Hey, Elmo. Hey, Mad. Hey, Bowen. Hi, Cookie.

Hi. Now, the Winter Olympic Games are underway, and we are in Italy to give you experiences from our hearts to your ears. Listen to two guys, five rings on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. What do you do in the headlines don't explain what's happening inside of you? I'm Ben Higgins, and if you can hear me, is where culture meets the soul, a place for real conversation. Each episode, I sit down with people from all walks of life, celebrities, thinkers, and everyday folks, and we go deeper than the polished story. We talk about what drives us, what shapes us, and what gives us hope.

We get honest about the big stuff, identity when you don't recognize yourself anymore, loss that changes you, purpose when success isn't enough, peace when your mind won't slow down, faith when it's complicated. Some guests have answers. Most are still figuring it out. If you've ever felt like there has to be more to the story, this show is for you. Listen to if you can hear me on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Isn't it weird to think that three HBO's shows film there?

Like entourage, curb your enthusiasm? I do not remember this. And us. That is bizarre. Yeah, yeah. It's like everybody feels crazy. do you feel like, and I don't know, this is probably, you know, I don't know if I should even say this, but like, did we help to forward a kind of untrue narrative, you know, that it was glamorous and fun when it was really more than that? I wouldn't say an untrue narrative because there was that side of it that was like that for sure. And I think that's the experience a lot of people had who didn't get deeper into it. But I mean, it doesn't cover the whole thing. But I don't.

think it was supposed to. No, no, I mean, it wasn't supposed to, but I do feel just some mixed feelings about the fact that, you know, our show, which is absolutely supposed to be about empowering women, and that was something that we felt really strongly about, and really empowering and making space for all different kinds of sexuality, but freedom within that and, you know, consent and all of those things. And I remember at the time feeling uncomfortable about it, but that has a lot to do with how I grew up and my mom's opinions of it all, you know, very feminist and not into that. And then I remember later on feeling like, oh, maybe I was wrong.

You know, like when, because when you guys did the show, it did seem like you were somehow being supported or forwarding your dreams or, you know, it didn't seem negative, right? And I thought, oh, well, I'm glad for them, you know. That's how I felt at the time. Of course, not knowing still the whole story, which you guys hadn't had the opportunity to tell. So I'm glad, number one, that you have had the opportunity to tell the toll story because I do feel like sometimes there's things in our business, maybe less so now, but in our world, the entertainment world in general, where it seems like, oh, this could be a good opportunity for you. And yes, it involves your sexuality, but that doesn't mean that it's inherently bad, right?

But yet, it's a slippery slope. A hundred percent. That's why I talk about it as much as I do, as I've heard, you know, Playboy doesn't exist in the same way as it did back then. but I've heard, you know, people tell me that they grew up watching girls next door and thought it was so fun. So they thought the next best thing to get into would be porn and now they regret it. So it's crazy that kind of affect those things can have. So that's why I like about it and love talking about, you know, what my motivations were and

what I thought I was getting into and what it was really like, just so people kind of know what those situations are. Yeah, I think that's great. I think it's so important. And I'm so glad that you're okay. You're at a place in your life where you can do that and you can share. that and you've done the work on yourself to be able to share that without it being, you know, retramatizing yourself.

Thank you. Welcome. It's so important. And I mean, that's also one of the things that I think about when I look at the episodes, you know, did we unwittingly take part in also glamorizing something that maybe wasn't great for women? I don't know. You know, I don't know.

It really was part of our culture, though. Yeah, at that point in time. Yeah. So in that way, I feel like, well, it kind of makes sense, right? And of course, we couldn't know everything that was going on behind the scenes because no one was talking at that point. Yeah, 100%. Yeah. Interesting.

It's so harmless back then. Right. Except when you were there, it didn't feel harmless. I didn't feel... Got the vibe? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

I mean, they put us in the sex room. So, yeah. We got the vibe. And I feel like the people that they hired, and it's interesting for you to say that you recognize some of them, I do feel like some of them, I feel like we're living there, you know, and we were so fascinated,

but we also didn't know, we didn't want to overstep our bounds in terms of, like talking and people are asking them questions, like, what is your life like? You know what I mean? But we were there for a few days. It seemed like it was a while, you know, that we filmed. And it didn't seem like they were just happy go lucky

who we're living the life we want. It seemed like there was more stress, you know, than that. I feel like I can almost see it on the girls, the twins he's dating, you know? The twins? Yeah. They don't seem in a light mood. You know what I mean? I do know what you mean.

And that's what we felt. That's what we felt when we were there. But yet, we were supposed to be showing this glamorous. There was really no way to, you know, do a better job of telling the story. And also no one was really volunteering any information to us either. Not that that was even our job. But like for me, you know, when I go into a place, I'm always interested in, you know, how do people actually seem? Like, do they seem happy?

You know, and at the time it was such a, like you said, I mean, those parties, you would hear everybody went to those parties. You know, they were very much mainstream Hollywood. You wanted to go. I mean, not myself because I was scared, as I said, but men. in general wanted to go. And I feel like women wanted to go. I mean, I definitely know people who went, but they were actresses and I don't think anything negative happened, you know, because, I mean, you could go to any party in L.A. And people are going to hit on you. It's not shocking, obviously. Yeah, nothing worse than that. You know what I mean? But how, just curiosity's sake,

how long did you live there? I lived there seven years. Wow. Almost all of my 20s. Yeah. Wow. Wow. Well, it's really great that you got out and that you're writing about. Is there anything else that you want to talk about from the show or from the episode that I didn't touch on? I'm just so curious, your own perspective. Yeah, one thing I'm curious. Do you remember what the lead time on your show was, like how far in advance you filmed versus? At that point, not far. It would have been just a couple months.

Yeah. Because we would go back to work in February. We'd be pretending it was spring because we always came on in June. And so by this point, I have the date here somewhere. We would have been filming and it would have been like maybe two, three months. before it was on. So pretty quick. Pretty quick.

We would have been there in the summer of 2000. It would have been on and it was on in September. So we would have been there in the middle of, yeah. And I do think that the midsummer night party

was the week that we were filming because we were all supposed to go. But I was like, well, no one asked me. I'm not going to go. No one got my okay, you know? And I was in some trouble because we had been apparently committed, you know,

to do it by someone. I think they all. went. Oh. We would have to ask them. I think they all went to kind of like make an appearance and go. You know what I'm saying? I don't think they hung necessarily. But I think that they were good employees as opposed to myself where I was like, my mother's going to be really mad at me. You know, very Charlotte type of a situation. But, you know, I grew up with, they, it was just not thought of as empowering, right, to be, to be, you know, outwardly sexual or whatever, but then I find myself on the show called Sex and the City.

So, you know, it's all really interesting. But I do feel like, you know, it's an interesting thing to think about too because obviously your personal experience and what you're going through is not good. And the fact that no one was upfront with you about it is even worse, right? So like you're little by little, you know, pulled in. That's the worst situation, I think, and it happens so frequently, unfortunately. but I do feel, and it's an interesting thing, you know, the openness about sexuality,

I do feel is generally important for women. Oh, I think so too, yeah. And it's so hard to know when it crosses the line into not being empowering. It's a very interesting thing, I think. No, I think too. Right? Because we can't just hide ourselves.

There's no, why should we have to hide ourselves? Like we're sexual beings, just like men are sexual beings. Like that it's unfair and, you know, inequitable to think that we can't, right? But then there's so much danger in the world, you know, in many ways, right? Yeah. So you want to be careful. It's an interesting thing to me. And I have a 14-year-old daughter.

So I think about these things. You know what I mean? I think so, too. My daughter's 12. Oh, wow. Yeah, I think more discussion is better, honestly, because like, when I was young, kind of the trend was like or the way it was portrayed in pop culture. was like women should just be able to have sex like a man and not care and, you know, that's

empowerment. And I feel like nobody talks about like the emotional impact of sex. Yeah, I agree. For some reason. And I think, you know, and of course like females, we operate a little bit differently. Obviously there's outliers. But I think for most females, there's a huge emotional impact that comes with sex and just people don't want to talk about that for some reason. They just act like everything should just be casual. They act like you should either be totally casual about it or you need to like have like religious principles that keep you in line. And nobody kind of talks about the in between like, well, why is it not so great?

And how do you really feel? That's so true. So true, Holly. I mean, I think it's super interesting. Certainly when we're thinking about our daughters too, because we have come so far in so many ways. And then in some ways, we still don't have total freedom to talk about anything freely that impacts us. right? Like why, why is it not okay to talk about the fact that women are going to potentially be navigating sex differently than men that makes sense, right? And maybe it's, maybe it's not true,

right? Like, maybe there's a Samantha out there and she wants to have sex like a man and more power to her, right? But what about all of the kind of realities of it? You know, like the realities and what do we say to our daughters? And, you know, I think it's important to think about that. my daughter, they still have sex ed classes that are about like consent and, you know, really important, interesting things that I certainly never, we didn't get anything like that. We were like, you're going to get your period. Like, that was really it, you know. But, and I think it's so great.

My daughter hates these classes, though. Yeah. She's like, oh, no. And I'm like, just, just do it. Just do it. It's going to be useful information. Yeah, for sure. But it's so, so hard to navigate.

A hundred percent. It's really tricky. So I think the more discussion, the better, honestly. I think you're right. I think you're right. Because really, really, you know, covering things and having secrecy just leads to bad, badness. Because then people feel like they can't talk and they can't say something that's true for them or they can't report something bad that happened to them or they can't stand up to people. That's the worst.

That's what we need to get rid of. Absolutely. Yes. When you look back and you see, like if you were ever to just be flipping in or not that people flip, if you were ever to be streaming. the episode of Sex and the City at the Mansion was there. Would you think like, oh, and watch it where you'd be like, oh, no, I don't want to watch it? I mean, for me personally, like, I've already seen it and I like it, and I think it's fun, and I think it's like a fun glimpse into that era.

The things I get triggered by more personally, I mean, it's always surprising. Like, I do a rewatch podcast with one of my co-stars from Girls Next Door, and the show will hit a certain way, but then we did an episode where we talked about the movie, The House Bunny with Anna Ferris that was the mansion. And we had parts then. And it was weird because this was a very lighthearted comedy. But I told Bridget, I'm like watching it on that movie, like hit differently for some reason.

Like I never really know how it's going to hit. But I think it's in the city episode because I wasn't in it and because it more captures the time period when I was just aware of Playboy as kind of an outsider. Like I think I hadn't even gone to. I think that party. that the rest of your cast went to was the first party I went to.

Oh my gosh. Wow. So it more kind of captures the era where I still like only knew Playboy from the outside and was kind of fascinated by it. Like I remember thinking the twins he was dating were so gorgeous. I remember seeing them at that party. So for me, it's more one of the ones I like.

And you know what else I love random is in the scene you're wearing this bikini top that's like cherry print. Yeah, yeah, yeah. A blast from the past because I remember so specifically like that summer, like the cherry print being everywhere. Like I think coach did a bunch of cherry print bags. And I was like in downtown because I was like a broke college student.

So I was like in downtown looking for all the fake coach cherry stuff. I love it. Yeah, that was Shoshana. Do you ever remember the line Shoshana? That was Shoshana because Shoshana was cut for people with hips, which would be me. And there was always some stress where we would have like beach or bathing suit or whatever. because I, you know, I didn't know what the heck to wear. And Pat Field art costumes editor was always unsure about me.

And then that's my own sarong. I just tied on. Yeah, thank you so much. But I also think that we were fundamentally confused in that costume because we come in the daytime, but then it's nighttime. And were we supposed to get in the garage? I don't even know. Like, to me, I watched that episode.

And I think, like, what were we doing? Like, what were we actually doing? I don't know. But it works. I mean, I love that picture of us with the four of us walking, walking in. And also because we are from New York, we also don't really know, you know, what, like, the characters aren't supposed to know what they're doing. Yeah, they are so sure to wish out of water.

So, yeah. Oh, I'm glad. I'm glad that you have a positive association when you watch it. That's good. That makes me happy. That makes me happy. Well, you are such a joy. Thank you so, so much.

I have a pressing question for you. Yes. Are you a Charlotte? You know what? Back in the day when sex and sex and the same. City was on and I watched it regularly, I was for sure a Charlotte. I identify as being a hopeless romantic and all that. But as time goes on, I think I'm more of a Carrie. I've written a couple memoirs, so I identify as a writer. And also like all the kind of like anxious attachment style

cringe stuff that Carrie does has totally been me. Like, have you seen those edits where they do the three times she shows up in Biggs doorway? Love them so much. And the crop. And the guy does. doesn't give up. That's been me. So many. Oh, no. I think I'm really a carry. Wow, I love it.

I love it. I'm also kind of a carry. I'm like half Carrie, half Charlotte. And I do love those edits because there's just a way where you can see things from a different perspective where you're like, that is so embarrassing. You know what I'm saying? I know.

And we've all been there. We've all been there. And then the funny thing is like at the time that we were making the show, it never entered my mind that she should stop trying. Like, I was like, of course. Yeah, he's the crutch. Yeah, go in your McDonald's, you know, Le Big Mac, you know, whatever.

I mean, it's all so interesting. And I like the show in that way and that at different times in your life, you will look at it with different perspectives. Yeah, for sure. I like that part the best, I think, because we all relate in different ways. Totally. Yeah.

Okay, you're wonderful. Thank you. Thank you so much. Over the last couple years, didn't we learn that the folding chair was invented by black people because of what happened in Alabama? This Black History Month, the podcast, Selective Ignorance with Mandy B, unpacked black history and culture with comedy, clarity, and conversations that shake the status quo. The Crown Act in New York was signed in July of 2019, and that is a bill that was passed to prohibit discrimination based on hairstyles associated with race.

To hear this, and more. Listen to Selective Ignorance with Mandy B from the Black Effect podcast network on the IHeart Radio app,

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Hi, Cookie. Hi. Now, the Winter Olympic Games are underway, and we are in Italy. to give you experiences from our hearts to your ears. Listen to Two Guys Five Rings on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. In the middle of the night, Saskia awoke in a haze.

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