In 1953, Hugh Hefner paid a Chicago calendar company $500 for nude images of Marilyn Monroe that she had posed for years earlier. He used those photos to launch the first edition of Playboy, putting Monroe on the cover and centerfold without involving her in the project. Monroe never actually posed for Playboy itself and had no say in how the images appeared in the magazine. She also never received direct payment from Playboy for the use of those photographs.
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