Editor’s note: This story featuring a chat between two Playmates was originally written by writer Anita Little and ran on Playboy.com in 2020.
In the most recent Equality issue of PLAYBOY, you’ll find two February Playmates, one from 2020, Chasity Samone, and a second from 1982, Anne Marie Fox. These two women, though they posed for PLAYBOY 40 years apart, are tied together by a proud legacy of sexual agency and freedom of expression. Fox, now an accomplished film and television photographer in Los Angeles, says that posing for PLAYBOY was a major turning point in her life as it was one of the first times that, as a young African American woman, she felt seen and celebrated. “Here was a place where I could belong,” she recalled during a phone conversation with Samone, a Dallas-bred model and actress. We brought these two powerful women together to talk about the ever-changing meaning of being a Playmate and the special meaning of being a Black Playmate in a society that’s often been slow to recognize and uplift Black beauty. The result was pure Black Girl Magic.
PLAYBOY: This is the first time that both of you are talking to each other. I’m just curious, Chasity, how did you feel when you saw Anne Marie Fox’s pictorial? And Anne Marie, how did you feel when you saw Chasity’s pictorial?
FOX: I am always proud when PLAYBOY decides to feature a woman of color, someone that is not only beautiful but has great energy and is able to speak to a demographic that is not necessarily the PLAYBOY demographic. It opens the door for progress by acknowledging that African American women are beautiful as well and can be featured in such a prestigious magazine. I was happy to see Chasity’s layout, and you’re so beautiful!
When I did my centerfold, I thought it was a bit of a fluke. I thought it was so random because there hadn’t been very many before me.
SAMONE: I did look at your spread, and I was like, ‘Wow!’ You looked gorgeous. I’m actually excited that you have transitioned to this big person outside of that one moment. You’re not in front of the camera anymore, you are behind the camera.
FOX: I learned so much about photography doing that centerfold because I was on set every day, I was surrounded by professionals, and it inspired my hobby as photography. I had no idea I was going to end up a [film stills] photographer.
SAMONE: Few Black women do your job. It’s very important that more women are able to get the same accolades that you have, or be on the same set to make people feel comfortable.
FOX: The other photographer I met a few years ago, she said, ‘I thought you were a unicorn when I saw you,’ because there are no other Black females. I have to tell you it wasn’t easy. I have had doors slammed in my face and men telling me, ‘Why are you trying to break into the industry that’s male-dominant? What are you doing?’ Thank God I’m actually good at what I do. Because otherwise it would have been futile.
PLAYBOY: I love your entire story. And like you said, Chasity, it is inspiring to see someone who shows that the Playmates are very multifaceted, versatile human beings who can do anything.
FOX: Exactly. I want to know, Chasity, how you were inspired to model for PLAYBOY? Was it an intention?
SAMONE: It was an intention. It was a goal for me. I always wanted to model for PLAYBOY since Naomi Campbell. She was my inspiration to do PLAYBOY. And then one day PLAYBOY reached out to me for a feature, not in the magazine, but a feature in the website. I was the Playboy Muse, they called it. Then I found out who was the director for the casting for Playmates, and we went from there.
FOX: You chased a dream.
SAMONE: I always do that because I can’t depend on anybody to make my dreams come true. I have to depend on myself.
FOX: You have this wonderful drive. This is something, too, that I think Black women have. I’m not saying other races don’t have it, but we have this innate perseverance and drive.
SAMONE: We have this innate resilience. We can fail, but it’s not a failure. We know something better is going to come from that failure.
FOX: I agree. When I think about dealing with all the rejection from the naysayers, I didn’t let it get under my skin. I didn’t let it change my goals. In fact, it just motivated me even more because I had to prove myself. Once you’re a Playmate, you become an ambassador for achievement, because it’s still a very selective process. They’re not handing out centerfolds to everyone. There’s a vetting system definitely intact there.
SAMONE: Yes, we’ve done a lot, and we’re still doing more. We’re still realizing where we came from and how much more we have to do.
I’m totally with you. I love PLAYBOY. I feel PLAYBOY is literally the only magazine that I know about that always supported Black women, Black people, civil rights. I knew about it a long time ago, that Black people loved PLAYBOY, because my dad had PLAYBOY. I don’t know if the whole Black demographic was into PLAYBOY, but obviously this is just an iconic brand. Everybody knew about the Playboy brand. There probably wasn’t a lot in the media celebrating Black women’s beauty. I felt represented.
PLAYBOY: And overall there’s a lack of representation of Black women’s bodies in media. That’s why it’s so subversive to me to see these types of images held up as art and put on such a pedestal.
FOX: When I was modeling for PLAYBOY, I had a naturally tight body. But as the years go by, you get older, you’re like, ‘I have to take care of this.’ So I’m a big believer in pilates and cardio and eating well and sleeping enough and drinking water. And even though I’m 57, people are shocked when I tell them that. It’s because of the self-care.
I feel that modeling for PLAYBOY inspired me to keep myself together. That’s something that I’ve been dying to say for years. Once you put yourself out there as an iconic figure, so to speak, a physical specimen, I think it’s your responsibility to maintain a healthy, attractive, functional body–especially if God blessed you with a beautiful body to start with.
SAMONE: Yes, I feel like we’re always going to be Playmates and that means keeping your body healthy and right. Being a Playmate is definitely a plus for me because I know maybe one day PLAYBOY’s going to need me again.
FOX: It’s like a badge of honor. Realize if your body was great enough to be presented in this format, then take care of it.
PLAYBOY: So much of being a Playmate is about being sexually empowered, accepting yourself and celebrating your body. When you look in the mirror, what do each of you admire the most about your body?
SAMONE: For me it’s my breasts. People think my breasts are fake. They’re definitely not fake. They are very natural. I love my breasts.
FOX: I feel the same way! My breasts are my favorite part of my body, too. Because they were so tiny when I did centerfolds. And they’ve grown naturally and come into their own so to speak. They’ve always been my favorite part because they’re nurturing and there’s so much femininity there. I have never met anyone who said, ‘Breasts? No thank you.’
I can’t really talk about my body or being a Playmate to a lot of people because they immediately want to sexualize you. I wish that I could be more candid about the experience because it’s such a positive one. It’s hard to talk to the average person about the experience. They don’t realize that PLAYBOY is actually a high art form.
I love that my centerfold came out in February, and that was back in ’82. I don’t know if Black History Month was even that solidified at that point. But in hindsight I’m like, how perfect.
SAMONE: When I found out I was doing February, I was like, ‘Thank you for making me the Playmate for Black History Month. I know you didn’t do that on purpose but I like it!’
FOX: That’s something about PLAYBOY that I’ve always appreciated: They don’t label you. I never felt like the token. Everyone made you feel like you were part of a family. When I was younger that had a positive impact on me psychologically, because in the real world, it wasn’t like that. PLAYBOY creates a nice cradle for all women, but as a Black woman, it was empowering because somebody cared about what I thought. They took the time to spend six months shooting my layout.
I feel being naked is a beautiful thing. That’s the thing about PLAYBOY. They celebrate nudity. There’s nothing wrong with it. It’s a beautiful celebration of the human body.
SisterSong is a national nonprofit dedicated to reproductive justice for women of color. As a longtime advocate of the right to choose, PLAYBOY has decided to partner with the organization for Black History Month. Join us in supporting their work!