By Le Figaro with AFP
Published
yesterday at 6:32 p.m.,
updated at 8:04 p.m.
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The investigation concerns the recruitment of aspiring models for the brand who were forced to participate in parties where they had to take drugs, alcohol and Viagra, according to the New York prosecutor.
The former CEO of the American ready-to-wear brand Abercrombie & Fitch Mike Jeffries, his companion and another suspect were indicted for trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation and pimping, announced federal prosecutor Breon Peace on Tuesday 22 October at a press conference in New York. The investigation concerns the recruitment, between 2008 and 2015, of aspiring models for the brand who were forced to participate in parties where they had to take drugs, alcohol and Viagra to engage in sexual acts, explained the prosecutor.
Mike Jeffries “used his power, wealth and influence to exploit men for his pleasure and that of his companion Matthew Smith”declared the head of this federal prosecutor’s office. The prosecutor described a classic system of “sofa promotion”in which the couple’s intermediary, James Jacobson, “recruited” et “tested” young men around the world before delivering them to Mike Jeffries and Matthew Smith. Still according to the prosecutor, the victims were taken to the couple’s residences in the New York area, or to hotels in England, France, Italy or Morocco to have sexual relations with the couple. “According to the indictment, on several occasions, when the men did not consent or were not able to do so, MM. Jeffries and Smith violated their bodily integrity by subjecting or continuing to subject them to intrusive and violent sexual contact. the prosecutor said.
Golden parachute
The case was sparked by a BBC investigation in 2023, in which several men revealed having signed confidentiality contracts regarding sex parties organized by Mike Jeffries. The leader was disembarked from Abercrombie at the end of 2014, with a golden parachute of 25 million dollars, after declaring that his group’s clothes were not for «gros». In the following months, the company had given up one of its trademarks, models with sculptural torsos and wasp-waisted saleswomen dressed very short to lure customers into its stores. “Today’s arrests are of monumental significance to the aspiring male models who were victimized by these individuals”reacted to AFP one of the lawyers representing certain civil plaintiffs, Brittany Henderson. “Their fight for justice does not stop there. We will hold Abercrombie & Fitch accountable for facilitating these terrible acts and ensure it never happens again.”she added.
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