Sam Asghari’s Sultry Playgirl Cover Balances Star Power, Privacy, and Respect

Sam Asghari, the Iranian-American actor, fitness professional, and reality television personality, has stepped into a new spotlight as the latest cover star for Playgirl’s December 2025 issue. The photoshoot features Asghari in a series of shirtless and near-nude images that emphasize his long-running work in fitness and modeling, while the accompanying interview focuses on his personal ethics, his relationship history with Britney Spears, and his evolving sense of self in the public eye.

On one of the Playgirl covers, photographed by Katie Levine, Asghari appears in partially unzipped leather pants with his torso fully exposed, facing the camera in a stylized, high-contrast image. A second cover takes the aesthetic further, placing him poolside at Paradise Pasadena in Los Angeles wearing only a towel positioned to maintain some modesty while maintaining the shoot’s erotic tone. Additional images in the editorial, including a bathtub pose with foam concealing much of his body and only the outline of black boxer briefs visible, continue the emphasis on sensuality and playful exhibitionism that has long appealed to many queer and allied audiences.

In the Playgirl interview, Asghari addresses his past with Britney Spears, with whom he shared a highly public relationship that began after they met on the set of her “Slumber Party” music video in 2016. The two became engaged in 2021 and married in June 2022, after the end of Spears’s long-criticized conservatorship, before separating in 2023; their divorce was finalized in 2024.

Rather than dwell on conflict, Asghari reiterates a personal principle grounded in an Iranian proverb about never speaking ill of someone with whom you have shared a meal, framing that intimacy as a lasting bond. He completes the proverb by stating that “whatever follows is irrelevant,” and adds that the healthiest approach is to “celebrate the past, appreciate the past, and not dwell on the fact that it’s over,” encouraging people to be “happy it ever even happened.”

In a separate interview with People magazine, Asghari underscores that, for him, the marriage was emotionally real despite its relatively short duration, noting that the pair were together for seven years and that he “will always have love for her” while wishing her well as they continue their separate lives. His decision to maintain privacy around specific details while affirming mutual respect reflects an approach to public breakups that stands in contrast to the combative narratives often seen in celebrity culture.

Asghari has acknowledged that his time with Spears significantly increased his visibility, bringing both opportunities and pressure. In a Page Six Radio conversation, he noted that being part of a highly visible relationship gave him a platform but required him to “work harder to prove” his own professional value beyond association with a global pop icon. For many LGBTQ+ fans who have followed Spears’s career and advocacy over the years, Asghari’s trajectory—from music video appearance to partner, then to independent public figure—illustrates how individuals can renegotiate identity and agency after a relationship ends, especially when queer and allied communities are heavily invested in both partners’ public narratives.

Asghari’s work also intersects with broader themes related to expression and censorship. He is currently involved in a film project centered on artists living in exile from countries that restrict free expression, which he has linked to his own background and evolving understanding of power, money, and autonomy in the entertainment industry. This focus on artists who face structural barriers to visibility has particular resonance for LGBTQ+ communities worldwide, where queer and transgender artists in restrictive environments must navigate comparable challenges to live authentically and share their work.

Asghari’s Playgirl appearance continues a broader trend of inclusive, body-focused celebrity editorials that engage diverse audiences, including many in LGBTQ+ communities who have long turned to such magazines for representations of male beauty, sexuality, and aspirational aesthetics. His Iranian-American heritage, fitness-driven public image, and willingness to pose in ways that center sensuality contribute to a media environment in which different masculinities and cultural backgrounds are increasingly visible in mainstream erotic and lifestyle publications.

In interviews surrounding the shoot, Asghari has stated that he aims to reconnect with the person he was when he first moved to the United States, emphasizing enthusiasm, positivity, and energy as core traits he does not want to lose amid fame and scrutiny. For LGBTQ+ and allied readers, this message of staying grounded while claiming public space—whether through art, visibility, or vulnerability—aligns with ongoing conversations about authenticity and self-definition in communities that have historically had to fight for their right to be seen on their own terms.

As Asghari continues to build a career in acting, reality television, and modeling, his Playgirl cover stands as both a promotional milestone and a carefully framed statement about loyalty, privacy, and the power of choosing respect over recrimination in full view of a global audience.