In a recent podcast appearance, actress Melissa Joan Hart opened up about a significant career decision from her past: turning down a substantial financial offer from Playboy magazine. The choice, she revealed, was motivated by a deep concern for her family, both present and future.
A Decision Rooted in Family
The Sabrina the Teenage Witch star reflected on this pivotal moment during Tuesday's episode of the Sibling Revelry podcast, which she co-hosts with Oliver Hudson, her co-star in the Netflix film A Merry Little Ex-Mas. Hart received the offer after her appearance in Maxim magazine's October 1999 issue, a photoshoot that presented a much more mature image than her famous teen witch persona.
"I didn't want to do anything that would embarrass them or hurt them," Hart stated, referring to her family. She recalled her immediate reaction to the lucrative proposal: "I was like, 'I can't do it.' They offered me a lot of money, and I was like, 'I can't do it because I don't want my brother to be hurt by that, like the last thing he needs." She elaborated that her brother was already facing enough teasing related to her career.
From Brother to Sons: A Lasting Impact
Hart clarified that her decision was not born from shame about her body. "I'm proud of my body. I'm fine with that," she told Hudson. However, she expressed profound relief about her choice in hindsight, now that she is a mother to three sons. "But then I'm really glad I didn't because now I have three boys and I don't need those images out there for them."
This wasn't the first time Hart's magazine appearances caused a stir. Two years before the Maxim spread, which nearly cost her the role of Sabrina, she had posed with nine other women in Details magazine but managed to avoid any significant backlash.
Life Beyond the Decision
Hart has been married to musician Mark Wilkerson since 2003, and together they have three sons: Mason, 19, Braydon, 17, and Tucker, 13. She explained that she always had an intuition that her actions would one day resonate with her own children. "I always kind of knew that that would be a correlation, that someday, I would have children that would, you know, what do I want them to see?" she mused.
The podcast conversation also took a lighter turn when Hudson cheekily brought up Hart's past crush on him, with the actress admitting she used to get "tongue-tied" around him. Looking back on her career choices, Hart concluded that she is "kind of happy I made that choice for my brother, which then also translates to my children."
