Editor-DN
Mike Jeffries was the CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch from 1992 to 2014. (file)
The former CEO of American fashion brand Abercrombie & Fitch is facing fresh allegations of sexual misconduct in incidents around the world, according to a BBC investigation.
In October last year, the BBC’s Panorama investigation first revealed claims that Mike Jeffries and his British partner Matthew Smith exploited young people between 2009 and 2015. A lawsuit was filed against Jefferies, Smith and Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F) last year, alleging “international sex trafficking and abuse of potential models”. Now eight more men have come forward to the BBC.
According to the report, a witness said he went to a sex event in Spain with Jeffries and his partner, believing it to be a photo shoot. “It was like a movie set in an Abercrombie store,” he told the BBC of the 2011 event. Then at age 20, he said he was offered a job in an ad for the company if he flew from his home in Los Angeles. Madrid will meet the CEO of A&F.
The night before the event, he said he was paid 3,500 euros in cash, which he believed to be the normal expenses for his three-day stay in Madrid.
On the night of the ceremony, she was taken to their hotel suite where she said Jeffries and her partner Smith immediately began touching her and Jeffries forcefully kissed her. According to the BBC, she said the former Abercrombie boss then performed oral sex on her.
“I tried saying no over and over again. And then I was convinced to do something. But I kept saying no, and I wanted to go.” The BBC.
A middleman, who worked as a talent scout and executive assistant for Jefferies, gave him the opportunity, he added.
According to multiple witnesses, the youths were also injected with liquid Viagra by Jeffries’ assistants. One man told the BBC he thought he was “going to die” after having a severe reaction to one of the injections during an event at Jeffries’ home in New York. She said she felt hot and dizzy but no one called an ambulance.
A middleman connected to the events denied any wrongdoing, adding that the men participated “with their eyes open”.
The FBI reportedly began investigating the claims following the BBC report. But enforcement officials have refused to comment.
Jeffries, 80, who was CEO of A&F from 1992 to 2014, has denied all the allegations.
