Esquire Profiles Penthouse Head Kelly Holland

LOS ANGELES—A new profile by Esquire magazine traces the rise of Kelly Holland from filmmaker to CEO of Penthouse, and also shares her plans for the magazine’s future. The Q&A interview has Holland revealing personal details—including her work at a Pat Robertson The 700 Club station in Dallas—as well as professional ones. Among the changes since she took over the top spot earlier this year is including her personal views on porn and feminism to Penthouse. “There's been some subtle—or not-so-subtle—changes,” she said in the interview. “Prior to the acquisition, there would be these big gynecological shots where women would put their fingers between their legs, they'd spread their genitals, they'd have insertion. That did not seem to be necessary or consistent with the core history of the magazine, and it seemed to be irrelevant in my commitment to just present beautiful nude women. Was I going to take vaginas out of the magazine? No, I wasn't. This is a political issue for me. You can show all kinds of things, but God help you if you show the vagina. I didn't think that you needed to have an up-close spread shot that went halfway up her uterine canal—this gynecological thing is not the essence of sensuality and sexuality.” Holland also offers her opinion on Playboy magazine removing nudity (“The bunny committing suicide is my opinion of it”) and her distinction between something being exploitative versus being empowering in the adult industry. Read the full article at Esquire.com.