5 Ways Hugh Hefner Changed The World

Take a moment to bow your bunny ears. The world has lost a legend. 

On Wednesday night it was confirmed that pop culture icon and founder of Playboy, Hugh Hefner, passed away from natural causes at the age of 91 inside his infamous Los Angeles mansion. Needless to say he led a life well-lived, but who knows what kind of shenanigans he and that smoking jacket of his are about to get up to next, considering he famously bought the plot next to Marilyn Monroe's in 1992 for $75,000. Here's hoping they're both chillin' in God's grotto right now.

While friends and fans have shared heartbroken tributes with similar sentiments, "Hef," like any household name, still stirs up his fair share of controversy. Despite leading the way when it came to the sexual revolution, the self-declared feminist faced criticism from both ends, with buttoned-up conservatives calling him and his enterprise "indecent," and women's activists (most notably Gloria Steinem, who went undercover as a waitress in a Playboy Club) deeming him a womanizer. Sure, the cries against him were not unwarranted, but there's no denying that Hefner, for the most part, has been on the right side of changing the world.

[Photo via Getty]