Hugh Hefner's son Cooper Hefner is not happy with the decision to stop publishing nudity in Playboy Magazine, and because of this, he's been pretty much forced out of the company.
While the 24-year-old was never officially on the board of his father's company, he was previously representing it as the domestic and international brand ambassador, and he did sit in on all of the meetings, so he had a very clear idea of what was going on.
"I've taken a massive step back with Playboy. Just due to the fact that at this point in time I do not agree with the decisions and the direction the company is actually going in," Cooper told Business Insider. "I was participating as a board observer, I sat and participated in every single board meeting. I was essentially asked to no longer participate in the board meetings because I didn't agree with his vision for the company...You either sort of take a step back and say, 'Ok, I'm going to let this happen' or you try and do something about it, and I'm certainly trying to do something about it."
In October 2015, the iconic male magazine announced that they would no longer be publishing nude photos of women as a part of a radical redesign because everything is so available on the Internet. And then, earlier this month, the first non-nude issue was released with Snapchat model Sarah McDaniel on the cover for its social media-themed spread.
"I was in the boardroom when the conversation was being had about whether we should go non-nude with the magazine as well as the company, and I didn't agree with the decision because I felt as though millennial and Gen-Y didn't view nudity as the issue," Cooper continued to explain. "The issue was the way in which the nudity and the girls were portrayed.
"When you have a company and the founder is responsible for kick-starting the sexual revolution and then you pluck out that aspect of the company's DNA by removing the nudity, it makes a lot of people including me sit and say, 'What the hell is the company doing?'"
Cooper also disagrees with the decision to put the Playboy Mansion up for sale, as it's "one of the most famous residences in the world."
"It really represents the brand," he explained. "And to take that asset away from the company is really devastating."
He also publicly shared his thoughts on the decision when he tweeted the link to his Business Insider interview, writing, "What's happening at Playboy is sad." Watch the full interview below!