Christopher Polk/Getty Images for Playboy(LOS ANGELES) — Playboy is returning to its roots.
Though a representative for Playboy Enterprises, Inc. announced in 2015 that the magazine would no longer feature nudity, the company’s chief operating officer, Cooper Hefner, Hugh Hefner’s son, confirmed on Monday that’s no longer the case.
The change will go into effect with the March/April 2017 issue.
“I’ll be the first to admit that the way in which the magazine portrayed nudity was dated, but removing it entirely was a mistake,” Hefner said in a statement. “Nudity was never the problem because nudity isn’t a problem. Today we’re taking our identity back and reclaiming who we are.”
Model Elizabeth Elam will appear on the cover, and on Instagram, she wrote that she’s proud to be a part of a dialogue about sexuality.
“Women’s bodies have always been a topic of conversation. We can be oversexualized and we can be made to feel ashamed of our bodies. I’ve never subscribed to those narratives, and this issue of Playboy celebrates that,” she wrote. “Naked really is normal. On top of that Playboy has always put a person behind the face. I was so excited to talk about things that are important to me, and read them echoed throughout the issue.”
In December 2015, Pamela Anderson graced the cover of what was then expected to be the magazine’s final nude edition. Playboy‘s 2016 circulation figures were not immediately available.
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