The rage is real as Playboy adorns its cover with a gay man for the first time in the magazine’s history. Donning the famed bunny ears is 23-year-old Filipino beauty influencer Bretman Rock.
Only four other males models previously appeared solo on the Playboy cover. The magazine’s late founder Hugh Hefner became the first, followed by singer Bad Bunny, and actors Ezra Miller and Paul Rudd. However, Bretman Rock marks the first appearance of an openly gay man.
Marilyn Monroe famously became the magazine’s first cover model and centrefold after Hefner paid $500 for her pictures in 1953. The actress posed for the pictures before becoming a Hollywood star and was paid just $50.
Playboy now appears as a digital-only magazine after dispensing with the print edition in March 2020. Bretman Rock wears the iconic Playboy Bunny ears, necktie and cuffs on the cover plus a black corset and platform heels.
Retro styled images inside the issue show him wearing slinky velvet black gloves along with gem-encrusted lips.
Surreal
“For Playboy to have a male on the cover is a huge deal for the LGBT community, for my brown people community, and it’s all so surreal.”
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While previous male covers failed to arouse controversy, the inclusion of a gay man pissed off many social media commenters. Long-time Playboy readers resented the gay intrusion into their treasured wankbank.
“Hef is rolling in his grave,” posted one reader on Instagram, summing up the comments of many.
Bretman Rock seemed unconcerned.
“My personal style is very much like who Bretman Rock is. Not giving a f___ and wearing whatever I feel cute in. I look cute in this today but I could’ve done this shit naked. Just saying.”
. . . and that is how you lose the last few customers you had. Go quietly into that dark night. RIP Playboy 2021
— Ryan Johnson (@riunnsnow) October 2, 2021
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