Lawsuit: Abercrombie CEO Ran Sex-Trafficking Ring

Retailer enabled Mike Jeffries' sexual abuse of models, filing says
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Oct 27, 2023 4:25 PM CDT
Updated Oct 27, 2023 4:45 PM CDT
Lawsuit: Abercrombie Enabled CEO's Sexual Abuse of Models
A store window reflects a street scene at an Abercrombie & Fitch store on New York's Fifth Avenue in 2017.   (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File)

A former model for Abercrombie & Fitch on Friday sued the fashion retailer, alleging it allowed former CEO Mike Jeffries to run a sex-trafficking organization during his 22-year tenure. Jeffries, who left Abercrombie in 2014, converted the chain from an struggling retailer of hunting apparel to a seller of must-have teen clothing. But he faced criticism for the company's sexualized marketing, including billboards and beefy models that alienated potential customers who didn't fit its image. The lawsuit comes after a BBC report earlier this month that raised similar allegations against Jeffries and his partner Matthew Smith.

The lawsuit, filed by David Bradberry in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleges Jeffries had modeling scouts scouring the internet and elsewhere to identify attractive young men seeking to be the face of Abercrombie. Often these prospective models became sex-trafficking victims, sent to New York and abroad and abused by Jeffries and other men, under the guise that they were being recruited to become the next Abercrombie model, the lawsuit contends. "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," the suit alleges.

The lawsuit names Jeffries, Smith, and the Jeffries Family Office LLC. It seeks class-action status and estimates that over a hundred young models, in addition to Bradberry, were victims. A&F, based in New Albany, Ohio, declined to comment Friday, per the AP. Earlier this month, the retailer said that it had hired a law firm to conduct an independent investigation into the issues raised by the BBC. It said the company's current leaders and board of directors were not aware of the allegations of Jeffries' sexual misconduct. Jeffries' attorney, Brian Bieber, a shareholder with the Miami law firm of GrayRobinson, said in a statement that Jeffries would not comment on the new lawsuit. "The courtroom is where we will deal with this matter," Bieber added. The Jeffries Family Office didn't respond immediately for requests for comment.

(More Abercrombie & Fitch stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X