Crystal Hefner insisted she'll always have a special place in her heart for late husband Hugh Hefner's children.
Though the businessman's son Marston Hefner accused the blonde beauty of being a "master manipulator" during his recent appearance on Holly Madison and Bridget Marquardt's "Girls Next Level" podcast, she spoke out to deny accusations against her and stated she has no ill will toward the 34-year-old.
"I feel that obviously he has a lot of pain and hurt still from the relationship or lack thereof with his father," she told a magazine in response. "And there are some things I think he’s trying to heal or get answers to that he’s realizing may never be answered. So maybe he’s filling in the blanks themselves."
"I still see him as family," the model, 38, added. "Obviously, he has a lot of pain and hurt."
Crystal also denied Martson's claim that she influenced the Playboy founder to change his will while he was "doped up" on pain medication, explaining Hugh was always "very sharp."
"I mean, it’s sad to discredit this person that has one of the highest IQs in the world and just created this entire empire. And then saying that he’s not credible, it’s like nothing got past him," she explained.
During Marston's interview, he explained that Crystal seemed to thrive on "the idea of control and power" when she married Hugh in 2012.
"When Crystal came in, there started to be tribes. There were people that were on Crystal’s team," he recalled. "She liked being in that position where you had to go through her or you had to ask her for things."
"She liked controlling the guest list," Marston added. "She liked taking girls off and on the guest list depending on whatever the whims were at the time."
Marston couldn't confirm or deny rumors that the former Playmate was the one who invited people to Hugh's 2017 funeral, "but whoever was in charge of the guest list for my father's funeral, shame on you," he stated.
"There were people there who I've never seen in my entire life," he noted to podcast co-hosts Holly and Bridget. "There were people filming us on their iPhones documenting our grief."
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Holly, 44, revealed she had heard from reliable sources that the reason Crystal called off her and Hugh's first planned wedding was because she was unhappy with their prenup.
Hugh's widow denied the claim, telling a news outlet, "This isn’t even true."
"When I came back I signed the exact same thing. I don’t know how she can credibly comment on something she wasn’t around for and has no idea about," Crystal shared, referring to how they wound up trying the knot the following year.
"I wish she would stop picking on me," she added.
Us Weekly spoke to Crystal.