In August 2008, the magazine announced that it would cease publication of its print edition as of the January 2009 issue. Pursuant to a plea deal, Chew would later agree to testify for the government and against various of his co-defendants. Following the FTC settlement, in 2003 then Crescent/Blue Horizon president Bruce Chew was indicted, along with alleged organized-crime figure Richard Martino and others on federal charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, credit-card fraud and money laundering for illegally billing web users including for the Playgirl website. changed its name to Blue Horizon Media, Inc. In December 2001, Crescent Publishing Group, Inc. Chew and David Bernstein were barred by the FTC from operating adult entertainment websites unless first posting bonds of $500,000 each. As a further condition for the settlement, Crescent principals Bruce A. In November 2001, for one of the then largest FTC settlements involving online credit card fraud, Crescent agreed to pay $30 million in refunds and to post a $2-million bond before it could continue to operate its websites. In August 2000, Crescent was charged by the Federal Trade Commission with over $180 million of online credit card fraud, much of which was alleged by the FTC to have taken place on the website. The magazine was published by Drake from 1986 until 1993 when Drake was merged into Crescent Publishing Group, Inc. In 1986, Playgirl filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and was subsequently acquired by Drake Publishers, Inc. As of 2016, the magazine had only approximately 3,000 subscribers.

The magazine returned to print as a sometime quarterly beginning with its March 2010 issue. From March 2009 to February 2010, Playgirl appeared only online. The magazine covered issues like abortion and equal rights, interspersed with sexy shots of men, and played a pivotal role in the sexual revolution for women.

In 1977, Lambert sold Playgirl to Ira Ritter who took over as publisher. The magazine was founded in 1973 by Douglas Lambert during the height of the feminist movement as a response to erotic men's magazines such as Playboy and Penthouse that featured similar photos of women. In the 1970s and 1980s, the magazine printed monthly and was marketed mainly to women, although it had a significant gay male readership. Playgirl was an American magazine that featured general interest articles, lifestyle and celebrity news, in addition to nude or semi-nude men.

Playgirl magazine archives 1983