The former chief executive of the American fashion brand Abercrombie & Fitch faces new allegations this weekend of exploitation and abuse at sex events held around the world.
One witness said he attended a sex event in Spain with the former fashion boss Mike Jeffries and his British partner Matthew Smith, believing it was going to be a photoshoot, the BBC reported. Young men were injected with liquid Viagra at other events, according to witnesses.
A BBC Panorama investigation last October first revealed claims that Jeffries and Smith had exploited young men for sex in cities around the world from 2009 to 2015. A middleman involved in the events denied wrongdoing and said men went to the events “with their eyes wide open”.
A US lawsuit filed against Jeffries, Smith and Abercrombie & Fitch last year alleged “international sex trafficking and abuse of prospective models”. Legal representatives for Jeffries stated in court documents that he denied all allegations and, alongside Smith, asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit. A legal document filed on behalf of Smith was reported to state that the claim “does not detail any specific, factual occurrences” of an alleged sexual offence by him. Abercrombie & Fitch said last year it hired a legal firm to conduct an independent investigation. It said the current board of directors had not been previously aware of the allegations, and it had “zero tolerance for abuse, harassment or discrimination of any kind”.
Eight more men have now come forward to the BBC, some of whom allege they were abused or were injected with drugs. The witnesses described the activities of some of Jeffries’ assistants – a group of young men in Abercrombie uniforms who travelled with him and allegedly attended some of the sex events. Some of these assistants injected the men with liquid Viagra, according to the new testimonies.
One potential model named says he was offered the chance to appear in an advert if he flew from his home in Los Angeles to Madrid to meet Jeffries and his team. The prospective model, then aged 20, says he was guided into Jeffries’ hotel suite and was forcibly kissed by the former fashion store boss. The man said: “I tried to say no repeatedly. And then I just got kind of convinced to do something. But I constantly was saying no, and I wanted to go.” He alleged Jeffries performed oral sex on him, the BBC reported.
Jeffries, now 80, was chief executive of Abercrombie & Fitch from 1992 to 2014 and is credited with transforming it from a struggling sports chain to a multibillion-dollar lifestyle brand. At its height the fashion chain had more than 1,000 stores in the US, the UK and Canada.
Following the BBC’s initial investigation, the FBI reportedly opened an investigation into the claims. The FBI and the US attorney’s office, with the eastern district of New York, were said to be interviewing witnesses, but enforcement officials declined to comment.
Abercrombie & Fitch and a legal representative of Jeffries have been approached for comment.
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