Will Hugh Hefner really be buried next to Marilyn Monroe?

60 Playmate Bunnies Celebrate Playboy's 60th Anniversary
Getty Images | Charley Gallay

On Thursday morning, the world awoke to news that the iconic 91-year-old founder of Playboy, Hugh Hefner, had passed away the day before. According to a statement issued by Playboy Enterprises, the media mogul passed away peacefully of natural causes, surrounded by family. And while his son, Cooper Hefner, didn’t divulge details on where Hefner will be laid to rest, many articles are claiming Hefner will be buried next to Marilyn Monroe.

Until the Hefner family lets fans know where Hefner’s final resting place will be, of course, that’s simply hearsay. However, it’s hearsay with some solid information to back it: After all, Hefner purchased the crypt beside Monroe‘s back in 1992 for a reported $75,000, according to The Guardian.

Monroe was pictured nude in the first issue of Playboy in 1953, which helped skyrocket the magazine’s fame, although she technically didn’t pose nude for the magazine. Instead, several years before, she had posed nude for photographer Tom Kelley for $50. Hefner then bought the pictures off of Kelley for a reported $500. Despite the slight workaround Hefner took to acquire the pictures, Monroe and Hefner reportedly developed a relationship over time, with Hefner mentioning in interviews how integral she was to the success of the magazine.

“I would have told her how much she meant to me and still does,” Hefner told CBS in 2012. “I feel a double connection to her because she was the launching key to the beginning of Playboy. We were born the same year. Had she lived like me she would be 86.”

hugh hefner photo
Getty Images | Dan Kitwood

“I will be laid to rest in a vault next to hers,” Hefner told CBS. “It has a completion notion to it. I will be spending the rest of my eternity with Marilyn.”

Whether Hefner is actually laid to rest next to Monroe in the Westwood Village Memorial Park in Los Angeles, however, remains to be seen. Hefner is survived by his wife, Crystal Harris, and his four adult children.

Tributes to the late Playboy founder, which took over the internet on Wednesday, shined a light on Hefner’s long-standing commitment to civil rights, encouragement of sexual freedom and his huge contributions to the media world.

Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr., recognized Hefner for his support of the civil rights movement.

Meanwhile, Nancy Sinatra remember Hefner as “one of the nicest men” she’s ever known.

Singer Paula Abdul heralded Hefner as a “legend.”

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