Evangelist Ray Comfort has weighed in on the death of Hugh Hefner and expressed hope that the Playboy founder "repented and put in trust in Jesus so that he could escape the damnation of hell."
Hefner, who helped spur the sexual revolution of the 1960s, died on Wednesday at his home, the Playboy Mansion near Beverly Hills, Calif. He was 91.
In a video published on his social media pages, Comfort shared his thoughts on the life and death of the controversial pop culture icon.
"Hugh Hefner is dead," Comfort said. "He will of course be celebrated as hero. He was the pioneer who ushered in the sexual revolution. He did for pornography and perversion what Planned Parenthood did for the killing of children in the womb. He legitimized it."
He continued, "But now he's gone and he has to face the one who said, 'Whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.' And who of us hasn't broken that commandment? We'd end up guilty on judgement day if it weren't for God's amazing grace."
"Let's hope Mr. Hefter repented and put his trust in Jesus so that he could escape the damnation of hell," Comfort said. "Whatever the case, he's gone -- you're still here. Get right with God today, because you may not have tomorrow."
Hefner launched Playboy in 1953, a magazine promoting sex and sexual freedom, and quickly built the magazine into a multimillion-dollar entertainment empire. Playboy's circulation reached one million by 1960 and peaked at about seven million in the 1970s, according to the New York Times.
"The very nature of Playboy and my life, I think I touched very close to the heart of things that are controversial in America - you know, sex and wealth and success," Hefner said. "And throwing a good party."
Over the years, Hefner "bedded hundreds of young women, married a few of his magazine's 'Playmates' and cavorted on reality TV shows with a stable of girlfriends less than a third his age," notes CNN.
In an interview, Hefner said he was proud that he "changed attitudes towards sex and decontaminated the notion of premarital sex".
"I would like to be remembered as somebody who has changed the world in some positive way, in a social, sexual sense, and I'd be very happy with that," Hefner told CNN. "I'm a kid who dreamed the dreams and made them come true."
In total, Hefner married thrice in his lifetime, although he admitted he "never found his soulmate." His last marriage was with Crystal Harris, a former Playmate.
Hefner will be buried in Westwood Memorial Park in Los Angeles, where he bought the mausoleum drawer next to famed model Marilyn Monroe.
