Steinem Had Regrets About Famed Playboy Exposé

Gloria Steinem's most famous scoop was also the one that dogged her the longest. In 1963, the young journalist went undercover for 11 days as a waitress in bunny ears and a corset at Manhattan's Playboy Club, then detailed the experience in an investigative magazine piece for Show headlined "A Bunny's Tale." As USA Today recounts, her story stripped the sheen off Hugh Hefner's brand, describing low pay, strict appearance rules, physical strain from the revealing uniforms and heels, and invasive mandatory blood tests and gynecological exams—practices Hefner ended after publication.

But the piece came at a cost. Steinem, who has died at 92, later said the assignment hurt her credibility, telling ABC News in 2011 it was "a professional error of gigantic proportions" that led some to see her as a bunny, not a reporter. The photos and story "followed me all these years," she said, leaving her to explain she had been working undercover. The New York Times notes that Steinem turned down a lucrative offer to turn the magazine piece into a book. Her view of it wasn't all negative, however. The expose "has outlived all the Playboy Clubs, both here and abroad," Steinem wrote in her essay collection Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions, where she listed the piece among her "personal celebrations."