Abercrombie & Fitch’s former CEO accused of exploiting young men for sex

The British broadcaster claims to have uncovered a highly organized network that Mike Jeffries and his partner Matthew Smith allegedly used to source young men for sex events they hosted all over the world.

They reportedly used a middleman to find men to attend and participate in the events, which took place between 2009 and 2015.

The BBC spoke to eight of the event’s attendees, half of whom said they had been exploited or abused, and that they were misled about the nature of the parties. Others said they had understood that the events would involve sex, but noted that it had not been made clear what would be expected of them.

According to their testimonies, Jeffries and Smith would engage in sexual activity with about four men at the events, or “direct” them to have sex with one another.

Some of the men described how Jeffries’s personal staff, all of them dressed in Abercrombie & Fitch uniforms, supervised the activity. At the end of the event, those staff members allegedly handed the attendees envelopes containing thousands of dollars in cash.

They also recounted how a personal “groomer” was hired to intimately shave body hair from some of the men in attendance, a ritual that was labeled “dehumanizing.”

All the men who attended the events and spoke to the BBC said they had been required to sign nondisclosure agreements, which they said they were given little time to read. While they said they were not permitted to keep copies of the documents, they had understood that they would be sued if they spoke out about their experiences with Jeffries and Smith.

‘Playtime’

According to the BBC, Jeffries—who served as Abercrombie & Fitch CEO between 1992 and 2014—hosted the events at his New York home as well as luxury hotels in various cities including London, Paris, Venice, and Marrakesh.

Domestic staff at Jeffries’s former home in the Hamptons told the broadcaster the events were regularly held at the property on weekends, with some of them saying they were told to leave the house every Saturday afternoon for several years.

One of the ex-staffers said he understood the instruction was given because that was when his boss was engaging in “playtime.”

Jeffries and Smith’s middleman, who the BBC identified as James “Jim” Jacobson, was said to have “auditioned” young men for Jeffries and Smith by requesting they perform oral sex on him or offering to reciprocate.

According to the investigation, “recruiters” would find men to attend Jeffries’ events, receiving payments between $500 and $1,000 from Jacobson for referring those men to him. Jacobson would allegedly forward photos of the young men to Jeffries and Smith.

Jeffries allegedly funded the entire operation, including the referral fees paid to Jacobson’s “recruiters,” with Smith reportedly organizing cash payments.

Several of the event attendees interviewed by the BBC said that either Jacobson or his recruitment team had floated the possibility of modeling opportunities with Abercrombie & Fitch.

Jacobson said in a statement made via his lawyer that men went into the events with their “eyes wide open,” and that he did not recall making any promises about modeling opportunities.

“Any encounter I had was fully consensual, not coercive,” Jacobson said, adding that he took offense to suggestions that he had engaged in “forceful behavior.”

However, the witnesses interviewed by the BBC told a different story.

‘The price was compliance’

David Bradberry, who was introduced to Jacobson in 2010 when he was 23, told BBC show Panorama that the middleman “made it clear that unless I let him perform oral sex on me, I would not be meeting with Abercrombie & Fitch or Mike Jeffries.”

“It was like he was selling fame,” he said. “And the price was compliance.”

When he attended an event at Jeffries’s Hamptons residence, Bradberry alleged that the then Abercrombie & Fitch CEO held poppers, a liquid drug offering an instant high when inhaled, under his nose and later had sex with him.

He said because of the house’s isolated location and the attendance of staff, he “didn’t feel safe to say no.”

Another former model, Barrett Pall, told the BBC he felt pressured into attending one of the events by an older model to whom he was financially indebted.

At the event, he said he felt under pressure to “perform” and ended up engaging in sexual activity with another of the recruits while Jeffries and Smith watched.

One man who attended one of Jeffries’s events and spoke anonymously to Panorama described Jeffries as a “kingpin” and alleged that there was a “very good possibility” he had been raped at the event after having his champagne spiked and falling asleep in a bathroom.  

“[Jeffries] took advantage of people in a very vulnerable point in their life, especially when they’re around these big cities, coming from small America,” he said.  

Fortune was unable to reach representatives for Jeffries and Smith. The couple did not respond to the BBC’s request for comment on the Panorama investigation’s findings.

Abercrombie & Fitch ‘appalled and disgusted’

In Monday night’s episode of Panorama, BBC reporters handed the evidence they had collected to lawyers who said there was a possibility the scenario described could amount to sex trafficking.

“I think there are grounds for a prosecutor to open an investigation and look closely at this conduct to determine if a criminal prosecution is warranted,” Elizabeth Geddes, who served as a federal prosecutor for 15 years, told the program.

A spokesperson for Abercrombie & Fitch said in an emailed statement on Tuesday that the company was “appalled and disgusted” by the alleged behavior brought to light by the BBC’s investigation.

“Since being contacted by the BBC, we have engaged an outside law firm to conduct an independent investigation into the issues raised,” the spokesperson added. “The company’s current executive leadership team and board of directors were not aware of the allegations of sexual misconduct by Mr. Jeffries.”

They noted that Jeffries’ employment with the fashion behemoth, whose other brands include Hollister and Gilly Hicks, ended in 2014.

“For close to a decade, a new executive leadership team and refreshed board of directors have successfully transformed our brands and culture into the values-driven organization we are today,” they said. “We have zero tolerance for abuse, harassment or discrimination of any kind.”

During his two-decade tenure at the company, Jeffries—who has a reported net worth of $300 million—transformed Abercrombie & Fitch from a struggling legacy brand into a multibillion-dollar teen retailer focused on sex appeal.

In 2014, he stepped down as CEO after the company’s sales came under pressure and questions were raised about the unofficial role he had Smith take on at the company. He left the firm with a retirement package worth more than $25 million, from which he is still reportedly receiving annual payments.

Under his leadership, both the company and Jeffries himself became embroiled in various controversies, including discrimination lawsuits, accusations of poor governance, and the ex-chief executive famously saying that only “cool” and “good-looking” people belonged in Abercrombie & Fitch clothes.

To that end, Jeffries implemented a “look policy” at the company that dictated what was acceptable when it came to staff’s personal appearance, with the policy outlining strict rules on everything from makeup and hair color to nail length.

Meanwhile, a 2012 lawsuit revealed that Jeffries had a string of unusual demands for staff serving him on the corporate jet while he was CEO. These included rules stating that the all-male flight crew must be dressed in Abercrombie & Fitch shirts coupled with boxer briefs and a “spritz” of the brand’s cologne.