Former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Faces More Allegations of Sexual Abuse
Former Abercrombie & Fitch chief executive officer Mike Jeffries is facing more allegations of sexual abuse in a new BBC report.
After the BBC’s initial investigation into the clothing chain’s former leader was released last fall, one of the alleged victims, David Bradberry, filed a civil action complaint in a New York federal court against Jeffries, his partner Matthew Smith and Abercrombie & Fitch claiming that the company allowed Jeffries to run a sex-trafficking organization during his tenure.
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On Friday, the BBC reported that eight more men have come forward alleging sexual exploitation and sexual abuse that was related to incidents which were said to have occurred between 2009 and 2015. The new allegations claim for the first time that Jeffries’ staff was involved in some instances.
Last fall after what was a two-year investigation by its Panorama team, the BBC released “The Abercrombie Guys” documentary and podcast. Some accusers claimed they had been exploited or abused at the gatherings, which were said to have been held at Jeffries’ former home in the Hamptons, at Claridge’s in London, La Mamounia in Morocco and Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in the South of France. The events were said to have been held between 2009 and 2015, and the men were allegedly recruited by a middleman, James Jacobson. The men allegedly received cash for sexual acts.
At that time, an Abercrombie & Fitch spokesperson said the company was “appalled and disgusted” and it had initiated an independent investigation. In November, Abercrombie & Fitch suspended Jeffries’ lifetime annual bonus of $1 million.
Late last year Jeffries filed a lawsuit in Delaware asking that the legal fees that he is incurring for defending himself in the civil complaint be covered by Abercrombie & Fitch. In March, a judge reportedly ruled in his favor.
Media requests to executives at Abercrombie & Fitch seeking comment about the new allegations were unreturned Monday. Jeffries’ and Smith’s attorney Brian Bieber did not respond to media requests Monday, nor did a spokesperson at his firm Gray Robinson.
There are also claims in the just-out BBC report that “Jeffries’ assistants injected some attendees in the penis with what they were told was liquid Viagra,” according to multiple men interviewed by the BBC. Some of the alleged victims described sex events including one in Jeffries’ presidential suite in a Madrid hotel in 2011 that was like “a movie set of an Abercrombie store.” That unnamed accuser said he had been offered the chance to appear in an advertisement for the brand, if he flew to Madrid to meet Jeffries. The accuser told the BBC that he thought “we were going to do a photo shoot.” What he allegedly found was a group of assistants in Abercrombie & Fitch uniforms — polo shirts, jeans, and flip-flops — folding clothes on a table pretending to be store workers in a dimly lit room that had “erotic photos of men’s abs on the dark walls.”
After allegedly being encouraged to act like one of the shirtless greeters who welcomed shoppers to Abercrombie & Fitch stores as was customary in the brand’s stores at that time, the victim was allegedly informed that “two very important guests were going to be the customers that you need to impress and entertain because they’re going to be buying a lot of clothes from you.” The accuser said that Jeffries and Smith then came out of a corner of the room, and Jeffries allegedly “forcibly kissed him and then performed oral sex on him,” despite him trying to say no repeatedly, according to the BBC report.
A former model for the brand Keith Milkie claimed that one of Jeffries’ former assistants “bragged” about having done some work for Abercrombie & Fitch at the same time as working at the alleged sex events in the BBC article. Milkie could not be reached for comment Monday.
In November, Bradberry’s suit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York alleged international sex trafficking and abuse of prospective models. The complaint said that Abercrombie & Fitch allegedly funded “a criminal enterprise” that Jeffries and his partner Smith orchestrated between 1992 and 2014. After turning the preppy label into a multibillion-dollar brand that was associated by many for its ad campaigns with muscular men, Jeffries exited the top job at Abercrombie & Fitch in 2014 after a 22-year run.
Brad Edwards, a lawyer at the Crime Victim Law Firm who is representing Bradberry and other plaintiffs, said he and his team are still in the discovery phase of their civil action case and are gathering documents, speaking with witnesses and (alleged) victims, and are preparing to take depositions.
Edwards said Monday, “The BBC piece was another informative piece that continues to shed light on this important case. The number of victims is much, much higher than what has been reported and we continue to urge everyone, whether victim or witness to anything, to contact our office as soon as possible.”
One of the reportedly former attendees of the sex parties, Diego Guillen, confirmed Monday that he had been interviewed by Federal Bureau of Investigation officials and that for a period of time he had made wake-up calls to a list of people in 2011. Guillen told WWD that for “some months” in 2011, possibly seven, he was paid $500 to call a list of people to wake up. “’Hey, please wake up. You will be picked up at 8 in the morning.’” I don’t have a list anymore. I don’t know names. I don’t remember anything about it.”
Later in Monday’s interview, Guillen said that he had called only to wake them up.
The BBC’s report claimed that Guillen, who is now a Miami-based lawyer and real estate broker, said he had never had sex for money before. “At that time unemployed and homeless,” Guillen had reportedly said he did not feel exploited.
Reached Monday, Guillen said he was not “very pleased with how they laid it out in the BBC report,” but he “will maintain” his story. “I have no evidence that there was any abuse whatsoever in any of these events. None. Zero,” he said. “I find it incredibly unfair that, at this point in time there are so many men that are coming forth so many years after for one reason only, because they are trying to get money out of this. I think it’s absolutely gross.”
Guillen claimed that Jacobson had instructed him to make the calls. “Nobody was an employee that I am aware of. I wasn’t part of the organization. I never worked for Abercrombie & Fitch so I don’t know if they were employees or how much they were getting paid,” he said.
Declining further questions, Guilen said that he was no longer interested in continuing to speak with the media about the matter. He said, “I’m sick of it. I don’t want to be involved. I don’t want to have anything to do with it any longer. I wish Matthew [Smith] and Michael [Jeffries] good luck with this in court. I hope that they prevail, because I think that’s the fair thing. But if they don’t, it is really no longer my problem.”
Guillen said that he has cooperated with the FBI’s investigators, who visited his house. He said that he has been “very kind to the BBC, because they were draining me over this.”
Guillen said that he felt an obligation to speak about the matter, because he finds it “incredibly unfair” that “these people” continue to press charges against Jeffries and Smith, based on allegations that are “not true. And if they are true, let’s say they are true for a minute, then I hope they have all of the evidentiary support to prove that their testimony is truthful. It must be corroborated, and there is no way to corroborate that. I hope they have pictures or videos or something.”
Jacobson could not be reached for comment Monday.
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