Here’s Why Cindy Crawford Went “Against the Advice” of Her Agents By Posing Nude for ‘Playboy’

While Cindy Crawford has never been one to play it safe (you don’t make it as far as she has without taking some risks, right?), the supermodel just opened up about one controversial move in particular that everyone advised her not to do: pose nude for Playboy.

In Apple TV+’s new documentary series, The Super Models, Crawford got candid about the 1998 magazine spread while explaining why she felt the need to rebel against her agents. 

“Everyone in my life at the time thought I shouldn't do Playboy,” the model, who had recently become the face of Revlon, shared during a confessional. “My modeling agency didn't feel that that fit into the types of jobs I should be doing. I think the brand still had a connotation to it that maybe scared some people off.”

Crawford added that while she "understood the platform of Playboy and what that symbolized" and knew that it "was definitely outside the normal trajectory for a Vogue model at the time," she was still interested in the offer.

"I don't know, there was just something about it that intrigued me,” Cindy shared. “So, against the advice of my agents, I said 'yes.’”

The supermodel then explained that she felt more comfortable about the shoot since she’d be working with Herb Ritts, a famed fashion photographer. “Herb Ritts was someone that I worked with a lot. I stayed at his house and we were very good friends,” she said, adding that Playboy wouldn’t have to pay her so long as she could “have control of the images” and “the right to kill the story” if she didn’t like it.

“Herb and I combined it with another trip that we were doing for French Vogue to Hawaii. We'd shoot a picture for French Vogue and then we'd shoot a picture for Playboy," she said. "I mean, you almost couldn't tell which pictures were for French Vogue and which pictures were for Playboy, it was very organic and I loved them.

Crawford concluded by sharing, “That's the whole thing for me is, even if I make choices that other people disagree with or don't like, if they're my decisions and I have control of it, that's empowering to me. Even if it's doing Playboy. I never felt like a victim of that decision.”