Playboy magazine ends Playmate of the Year

The racy magazine has finally pulled a key annual tradition – and it’s all because of a move towards “a more inclusive celebration” of women.

It’s the end of the road for Playmate of the Year.

Since 1960, Playboy has handed out the award to its favourite Playmate of the month from the previous year, giving the honour to such skin superstars as Jenny McCarthy, Anna Nicole Smith and Victoria Silvstedt over the years. (And, notably, Karen McDougal).

But a representative for the magazine says that from now on it will be replaced by Playmates of the Year, celebrating “all twelve diverse Playmates of the month” from the previous year. The representative said it is now “a more inclusive celebration”.

Playboy has celebrated its Playmate of the Year since 1960.

“The point of this change was to not exclude anyone and instead of honouring one Playmate they’re honouring all 12 diverse Playmates of the year for each of their unique contributions to the brand,” the spokesperson said.

“They had an exceptional group of impressive diverse women join the Playboy family as Playmates for 2019. These women are accomplished advocates and admirable personalities in their own right.

“We wanted to raise the group up as a whole and felt that there was a need to commemorate each of them one more time.”

It means that the last-ever Playmate of the Year will be 2019’s Jordan Emanuel.

This article originally appeared on The New York Post and was reproduced with permission