Lawsuit Accuses Former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Of Sex Trafficking Ring

Topline

Abercrombie & Fitch and its former CEO Mike Jeffries were sued Friday over allegations that Jeffries used the company to create a sex trafficking operation of young models—a lawsuit that follows a shocking investigation from the BBC.

In this May 22, 2017, file photo, a store window reflects a street scene at an Abercrombie & Fitch … [+] store on New York’s Fifth Avenue. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File)

Key Facts

The lawsuit accuses Jeffries, who led the company from 1992 until 2014, of promising young men modeling jobs at Abercrombie & Fitch over two decades in order to lure them to locations around the world—including New York, Morocco, England, Italy and France—where they were coerced into having sex with him and others.

The suit describes alleged incidents in which prospective models were brought in for interviews, were made to sign non-disclosure agreements and then taken to other rooms where they were forced to take drugs and to participate in sex acts with Jeffries, Jeffries’ partner—Matthew Smith, who is also named as a defendant—and others.

The suit was filed by one of the alleged victims, David Bradberry, who also participated in the BBC investigation that made similar allegations; the lawsuit estimates there are possibly over 100 victims and is seeking class-action status.

Jeffries allegedly used company resources to carry out the operation and company funds to make hush money payments to victims.

The suit, which seeks unspecified damages, argued that “Abercrombie knew that it was providing the financial lifeblood for a sex trafficking organization led by its CEO from at least 1992 through 2014.”

The suit also said “Jeffries was so important to the profitability of the brand that he was given complete autonomy to perform his role as CEO however he saw fit, including through the use of blatant international sex-trafficking and abuse of prospective Abercrombie models.”

Abercrombie & Fitch declined to comment on the pending litigation and Jeffries’ lawyer told Forbes: “Mr. Jeffries will not comment in the press on this new lawsuit as he has likewise chosen not to regarding lawsuits in the past. The courtroom is where we will deal with this matter.”

Key Background

This lawsuit follows an investigation published by the BBC earlier this month into Jeffries’ time at Abercrombie. The BBC said it spoke to 12 aspiring models who described “attending or organising events” involving sex acts with Jeffries and Smith, eight of whom attended events. Half of the men attending events reportedly told the BBC they were misled about the sexual nature of the events—though some said they were aware ahead of time that sexual acts would occur. The BBC also interviewed Bradberry, the plaintiff, who said that, during one incident in 2010, a middleman organizing the sex trafficking with Jeffries “made it clear to me that unless I let him perform oral sex on me, that I would not be meeting with Abercrombie & Fitch or Mike Jeffries.” Jeffries and Smith did not respond to requests for comment from the BBC during the investigation. At the time of the investigation’s publication, Abercrombie & Fitch said in a statement it was “appalled and disgusted” by the allegations against Jeffries, and said it was working with an outside law firm to independently investigate the issues raised in the BBC report.

Tangent

Bradberry is being represented by law firm Edwards Henderson Lehrman, the same lawyers that represented Jeffrey Epstein’s accusers in cases against JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank earlier this year. The two banks were accused of ignoring signs of Epstein’s infamous alleged child sex trafficking ring. They ultimately paid settlements that totaled around $365 million, but did not admit wrongdoing.

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