The year is 2002.
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The year is 2002.
The year is 2003
Kudos to a great idea!
The year is 2004.
The year is 2005.
The year is 2006.
Controversy - March 2006
Jessica Alba caused a hubbub in 2006 after being voted the sexiest star of the year in an online Playboy poll. A letter posted on the Smoking Gun alleged Playboy's magazine staff used "outrageous, unethical behavior" to obtain the cover photograph of Jessica Alba without her consent. Alba blasted the magazine in a statement, claiming "Playboy has violated my personal rights and blatantly misled the public who might think I had given them permission to put me on their cover when I didn’t."
The dispute was another legal and PR headache for Hugh Hefner. Although the magazine was already on newsstands, her legal team at Columbia Pictures demanded Playboy immediately cease distribution of the magazine and offer a "monetary settlement" for hinting she might be nude in the issue (she wasn't), reports People magazine. Her lawyers claimed that Playboy received the photo "fraudulently" from Sony Pictures. According to The Brand, the rift between Alba and Playboy was patched a month later when she received a personal written apology from Hugh Hefner, and a financial donation to two of her favorite charities.
Controversy - April 2006
In April 2006, Playboy moved into stormy, uncharted international waters by licensing and launching an edition in Indonesia. Unfortunately, just like an edition in Turkey in the mid-1990s, Playboy's progressive attitude on sexuality and characteristic photos of scantly clad women were a dud. Although the April 2006 issue included no nudity, Playboy's expansion into the Pacific Rim was protested and scorned by the country's Muslim majority. Despite only featuring photos that looked like bra ads for J.C. Pennys, threats of violence forced the magazine to move its office to nearby Bali. According to the Times, two models appearing in the issue, Andhara Early and Kartika Gunawan, were questioned by police. The Playboy Indonesia's editor-in-chief was charged by local officials for "violating the indecency provisions of the criminal code," reports the Times. After 11 total issues between 2006 to 2008, Playboy Indonesia was phased out.
The year is 2007
The year is 2008.
Controversy - December 2008
In late 2008, the editorial staff at Playboy Mexico received a lump of coal and public criticism for Christmas after publishing a December issue with model Maria Florencia Onori looking awfully similar to depictions of the Virgin Mary. According to the New York Daily News, Playboy apologized for the controversial photo, which was captioned by the words "We Love You, Maria" in Spanish. The issue landed on newsstands just days before Mexico's annual Virgin of Guadalupe festival in early December.
The year is 2009.
The year is 2010.
Controversy - July 2010
Churches around the world directed their wrath at Playboy Portugal for a controversial homage to the late Portuguese novelist Jose Saramago, the country's only Nobel laureate. The company licensed to produce Playboy in Portugal decided to pay tribute to the atheist author of "O Evangelho segundo Jesus Cristo" (The Gospel According to Jesus Christ) with a pictorial of three nude models next to caricatures of Jesus Christ. After taking heat in the press, Playboy halted its licensing agreement with the company in charge of Playboy Portugal.