The Abercrombie Guys: 8. The fallout 29:01

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Hi, thanks for downloading World of Secrets. I'm Rhianna Croxford, and before we start, I want to let you know that this episode contains references to sex.

Since we first told you about the Abercrombie guys, a lot has happened. We start with breaking news this hour with a special BBC News investigation. The former CEO of the global fashion brand Abercrombie & Fitch and his British partner face allegations of exploitation from men recruited for sex events they hosted around the world.

They said that these parties happened in big major cities over a time period between 2009 and 2015. Now the investigation revealed an organised network used a middleman to recruit young adult men for the events with Mr Jeffreys and his partner Matthew Smith, with some alleging that they were abused. The story I'd been investigating for more than two years made headlines around the world.

Now, the BBC is saying that they completed extensive fact-checking, talking with dozens of other sources to corroborate the men's claims, as well as cross-checking flight itineraries, emails, tickets of those natures. Obviously, some very serious allegations for Jeffries right now, guys. For sure, Angela.

Just before the story broke, I was on the phone with David Bradbury, one of the men who spoke out. He was holed up at home on the other side of the Atlantic, counting down the minutes until we hit publish. It was a floodgate of emotion, really, just released. I was really completely humbled by not knowing what happens next. I guess I still feel that way.

From the BBC, this is World of Secrets. Season one, The Abercrombie Guys, with me, Rhianna Croxford. A BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Panorama investigation. Episode eight, The Fallout. The Fallout.

Since we published the podcast, we've been receiving tons of emails and messages. And one thing a lot of you have been asking is how the three men who spoke out about their experiences with the Abercrombie guys are all doing after staying silent for more than a decade. Here's David again. I'm doing okay. It's, you know, it's been day by day, but I'm doing...

I'm having courage in my convictions. I'm proud of myself for having the courage to come forward with what happened to me. What would you say to other men who are thinking about speaking out and coming forward? You're not alone. You're not alone. And finally, the world is listening. It's time to tell your truth. Be brave. I'm also in regular contact with Barrett Paul, the former model who started this entire investigation.

Like David, he says he's also trying to come to terms with the fact that he finally let go of the painful secret he held onto for so long. I'm grateful that so many people want to share their stories and stand with me and the other men. But it's a hard thing to wrap your head around when you know it kind of took one person to pop the metaphorical lid off of this story.

At the end of all of it though, I have to remind myself that the reason why I came forward in the first place was to help raise awareness and educate people about this stuff because it is going on more than I think most people are comfortable understanding. And there's Alex too, the former A&F store model who went to a big event hosted by the Abercrombie guys in Marrakesh. Alex remained anonymous in our story and still hasn't shared his experience with his friends or family.

He told me it's felt strange hearing people talk about it and not being able to say, that happened to me. When we talked, he said it took him a couple of weeks to process the magnitude of this finally coming to light. But he's now in a good place and glad he spoke. Somebody who still hasn't spoken is Mike Jeffries, Abercrombie's former CEO.

But two days after the story broke, producer Ruth got a call from an American lawyer now representing Kim. Yes, I tried to contact Mike Jeffries and Matthew Smith at least 20 times over two months, asking them to respond to the allegations we were reporting on. And I was just met with total silence.

So when I finally got a call from Mike Jeffries' lawyer, it came as quite a surprise. He then asked for my email address and sent me a statement. What did it say? It said, Michael is 79 years old and retired. In years past, he has chosen not to comment on media reports, documentaries and stories of any kind as they relate to his personal life and does not plan on doing so now. And that was it? That was it.

Abercrombie & Fitch, the company itself, also released another statement that was widely reported in the media, saying...

Abercrombie & Fitch, once famed for its preppy Ivy League aesthetic and racy ads full of shirtless models, has had a pretty drastic rebrand since Mike Jeffries was in charge. They're selling a much more wholesome, inclusive image these days. Since we revealed the allegations against Mike Jeffries that he was accused of exploiting men for sex, the brand's been actively trying to distance itself from its former CEO.

When Mike Jeffries exited Abercrombie & Fitch nearly a decade ago, he negotiated a hefty pension deal worth more than $25 million. As part of that package, on top of his standard pension, he's been receiving additional payments from the company totalling around $1 million a year. But I can now reveal that Abercrombie & Fitch has suspended those additional payments.

So just as the brand has been making a comeback in recent years with booming sales, trying to draw a line under its past,

It finds itself haunted by its former boss. The US fashion brand Abercrombie & Fitch is facing a class action lawsuit over claims it funded a sex trafficking operation led by its former chief executive. Court documents filed in New York allege the company allowed Mike Jeffries unfettered access to aspiring models, company funds and resources to support what the papers describe as his criminal enterprise.

That lawsuit has been brought by David Bradbury. When we spoke back in the autumn of 2022, taking legal action wasn't on his mind. But even then, he was searching for answers on what the company knew about the Abercrombie guys. I think it starts by revealing the truth. I think that I deserve to know the full truth. I think that the other guys that were involved...

to know that and are entitled to know that. I think I deserve to know if Abercrombie and Fitch knew about what was going on and if they took steps to protect Insulate and hide all of this away. A few weeks after our podcast and TV documentary dropped, David Bradbury and Barrett Paul, who'd never spoken with each other before, had separately told us they were taking legal advice, giving us a sense something might be coming. But we didn't really know any details.

So it was quite a moment when the lawsuit finally landed. Well, the lawsuit's just come through. It's 128 pages. Wow, OK. Maybe I'll start from the middle down and you start from the top. Yeah. Let's go. In a corner of BBC HQ in London, producer Ruth and I began combing through it.

The court papers allege that it's likely more than 100 men were sexually abused by Mike Jeffries and that young men were manipulated under the guise of providing them with the modelling opportunity of their dreams, becoming an Abercrombie model. The lawsuit seeking class action status, where one or several people sue on behalf of a larger group.

So we decided that rather than pursue an individual action, we would file it as a class action because it bears the hallmarks of a sex trafficking operation where the modus operandi... This is Brad Edwards, who we heard from in the previous episode. He's a former prosecutor, now working as a civil trial attorney.

When I interviewed him in New York earlier this year, it was because he'd agreed to take a look at the testimony and documents we'd uncovered in our investigation and give us his take on what it could all mean. But things have since changed.

Brad, when we first met, you were independently reviewing the evidence we'd gathered. But what's your role now? So right now, I'm the lawyer that is representing David Bradbury, as well as the class of all of the other men. We realize there's a lot more than just David Bradbury. He's willing to be the face of it, but there's a lot more people. In fact, now we know of a lot more people.

So what happened then? After our podcast and documentary went out, did you find yourself being approached by lots of men? Almost as soon as your documentary came out, our office received calls from people

Numerous people, some of which we now represent, but also former employees of Abercrombie, other people who have crossed paths with some of the characters, whether that be Mike Jeffries or Matthew Smith or Jim Jacobson, many other people who were calling just to provide anecdotal stories about Abercrombie in general, trying to offer up any way that they could be helpful. What are the main allegations against Mike Jeffries and Matthew Smith?

The lawsuit charges Mr. Jeffries and Mr. Smith with sexual misconduct, forcible touching, and rape, which all resulted in physical and psychological trauma to David Bradbury and the rest of the class members. The lawsuit also explains how Mr. Jeffries held castings at his home as well as internationally and

providing prospective brand models with Abercrombie & Fitch gift cards, with cash, with clothing, with all of the insignia that this is a legitimate Abercrombie & Fitch operation. All of these claims are just that, claims. To win their case, the complainants will have to provide evidence. Now, it's worth pointing out that this lawsuit is a civil case, not a criminal one.

In a civil case, a lawyer has to prove an allegation on the balance of probabilities that it's more likely to have happened than not. In a criminal case, you have to go further and prove an allegation beyond reasonable doubt. The other point is, if a defendant loses a civil case, they might have to pay compensation, but they wouldn't get a criminal record or face jail time.

We went back to Mike Jeffries' lawyer to ask him about the allegations laid out in the lawsuit. He told us he wouldn't be commenting at this time, telling us in a statement, the courtroom is where we will deal with this matter. What's really interesting in this lawsuit, though, is that it doesn't just accuse the Abercrombie guys of wrongdoing Mike Jeffries and Matthew Smith. It also makes allegations against the company, Abercrombie & Fitch.

We filed a class action complaint against four defendants. Abercrombie is one. The Jeffries family office is a separate entity, and that's two. Mike Jeffries is the third defendant, and Matthew Smith being Michael Jeffries' partner as the fourth.

Reading the lawsuit, it accuses Abercrombie & Fitch of funding a sex trafficking operation run by Mike Jeffries, saying the company "cared about profiting" and showed "absolute loyalty to him", including "a willingness to spend copious amounts of money on extravagant drug and sex parties". It also alleges the brand ignored multiple red flags of criminality in his corporate account activity.

Have you seen this? It basically says that ANF knew or should have known it was providing what it calls the financial lifeblood for a sex trafficking organisation led by Mike Jeffries between at least 1992 and 2014 while he was CEO of the company. Wow.

The lawsuit goes on to allege that Abercrombie & Fitch allowed Mike Jeffries unfettered access to aspiring young models and corporate funds to support what it calls his criminal enterprise. It also claims Mike Jeffries used company resources, including the private jet we heard about before, and unlimited amounts of cash to facilitate this venture.

This is interesting. The company email platform was used to coordinate with model scouts and make arrangements for the sexual abuse and exploitation of young male models. I mean, that would be absolutely extraordinary if that came out in court and that was the case. Oh, my gosh, have you seen this about the video? Let's see. It claims that company employees were aware of Jeffrey's sexually exploitative and abusive behaviour.

And a video was circulated within the corporate office showing him sniffing what was believed to be cocaine off a man's penis. And it also says that while Abercrombie tried to prevent the video from being more widely disseminated, the company did nothing to discourage the behaviour captured in the video and in fact continued to financially reward Jefferies, according to this lawsuit. I mean, another thing that is super striking...

is the lawsuit claims that Mike Jeffries required Abercrombie employees to, and I quote, properly pack his sex toy bag for his business trips. So lots of questions for the company, as well as Mike Jeffries and Matthew Smith. But what's interesting is that this case may never have seen the light of day if it wasn't for a recent change in the law.

It's been made possible because of something called the Adult Survivors Act, legislation introduced in New York State, where some of the alleged offences in this lawsuit are said to have taken place. For one year only, the law has allowed people to bring historic sexual abuse cases that would have otherwise fallen outside of the statute of limitations.

Which is why the men we spoke to, who say they were exploited for sex a decade ago, were able to bring their case. It's also the reason why we've seen other sexual abuse cases from as far back as the 90s hit the news this year, like the one brought by journalist E. Jean Carroll against Donald Trump. The Adult Survivors Act expires in November 2023, but Brad Edwards says people can still come forward and join the lawsuit.

By filing it as a class action, our law firm has protected the statute of limitations under the Adult Survivor Act for everyone in the class. So if somebody has not come forward, it's not going to be too late for those people. But the sooner, the better. So what's the significance of this lawsuit? Without this lawsuit...

there likely would never be any accountability. Your podcast and documentary went a long way to exposing the abuses, but holding somebody responsible in a court of law is the only real way to get justice and to get change. I think that the Me Too movement went a long way and it changed the world in a very positive way, primarily for female victims. But we haven't had the same movement, the same results for male victims,

even though they're abused with extraordinary regularity. So I really think that this is going to be the case that tells men, you also can come forward and you also can overcome this. And what happens next? What's the rough timeline? I would say in a perfect world, the case gets set for trial a year from now. Within the next year,

There should be an exchange of discovery and documents where each party has to provide to the other party relevant documents, subpoenas to third parties, and depositions taken. I mean, I, for one, am already looking forward to taking Mike Jeffrey's deposition about all of the allegations and figure out what it is that he has to say. What do you think of some of the other outstanding questions that this lawsuit might answer? Obviously, we did as much as we could, but...

You have very different powers to us. Yeah, you did a fantastic job. In fact, I don't think that I've ever seen investigative journalism go as far as yours did. It really is incredible. But I think that it's going to reveal the links to which major companies will go to drive up profits at the risk of harming just about anybody else.

along the way. In fact, I think that what we're going to learn is at the top, where Jeffries was at the top, the only thing that mattered to Abercrombie was the bottom line. After the lawsuit was filed, we went back to Abercrombie & Fitch, but the company told us it doesn't comment on pending litigation. If the lawsuit leads to a court case, we could finally end up with answers to a question I've been wondering about throughout much of my two-year investigation.

Were senior staff at Abercrombie & Fitch aware of what Mike Jeffries was allegedly doing? And were red flags missed?

Over the course of my research, I've spoken with dozens of former Abercrombie employees at all levels within the company, trying to figure this out. But in order to understand more about what's happening now, I need to rewind and take you back to the beginning of the end of the Jefferies era at Abercrombie & Fitch. I just want to bring you some breaking news we've had within the last few minutes, and that is that the chief executive of the fashion chain Abercrombie & Fitch is to step down.

It's December 2014 and news breaks in Abercrombie HQ that Mike Jeffries, the company's chief executive of 22 years, is retiring.

Sales and stock prices have been falling, and the brand still feeling the brunt of bad press. After controversial comments Mike Jeffries made years earlier began to resurface and start going viral, giving millennials the ick. Abercrombie CEO Mike Jeffries sparking controversy by saying he only wants the thin and beautiful sporting its clothes. The brand limits larger sizes, which may shrink its customer base, but apparently increases its coolness factor. Well, filming.

Former employees I'd spoken to told me Mike Jeffries' departure felt really sudden. The word in the office was that Jeffries and his partner, Matthew Smith...

were vacationing on a cruise at the time the news was announced. The question is, why leave now? We are less than a month until Christmas. The timing, according to many of those I'm speaking to, is unusual. The idea that he would retire or was pushed out without someone to succeed him immediately, again, is a little curious.

Just to be clear, we found no evidence Abercrombie was aware of the events or allegations of sexual exploitation we uncovered. But what I can tell you is that in the months leading up to Mike Jeffries' exit, there were concerns about his behaviour inside the company.

Abercrombie is a public company, so it's got shareholders, and one of them, a police pension fund, started legal proceedings against the brand, unhappy about Mike Jeffries' pay and performance. The fund raised concerns about his lavish expenses, saying he was racking up massive travel costs on helicopters and hotel rooms.

They also queried the unofficial role of Matthew Smith, questioning why he was on more than 95% of business trips on the corporate jet, despite not being an employee. But the really striking thing is, documents filed in the case say the company paid out settlements for alleged misconduct by Mike Jeffries.

I managed to talk to someone who knows a bit about what went on. He'll only speak anonymously because he's worried about his job. This is an actor speaking his words. Well, I've seen internal documents that described payoffs of employees and agency hired people working for the company that were complaining about misconduct by Michael Jeffries, who was then the CEO of the company.

What was your understanding about the nature of these complaints? Now, I didn't get access to the nature of the actual complaints from the documents that I saw, but there was hush money involved, which was paid out without the knowledge of the board, is my understanding. And it was company funds being used for that over a number of years.

Abercrombie and Fitch agreed to settle with the Police Pension Fund in August 2014 and committed to tightening the rules governing future payoffs for alleged misconduct. And then, just over three months later, Mike Jeffries was gone.

What role, if any, do you think these allegations of misconduct had on the departure of Mike Jeffries? My guess is that they were part of a whole series of events, complaints about performance, etc., etc., that they were definitely among the things that made him depart. We asked Abercrombie & Fitch if any of the complaints made against Mike Jeffries during this time were of a sexual nature, but the company refused to answer.

But since our story broke, the company published another statement on Instagram, saying it's hired an outside law firm to independently investigate our allegations. It also said,

Abercrombie has also stated that the company's current executive leadership team and board of directors were not aware of the allegations of sexual misconduct by Mike Jeffries. Since we launched this podcast, we've had lots of people send in leads and stories for us to look into.

For instance, when news of the lawsuit broke, a tip-off led me to someone who used to work for the Jeffries Family Office, the private company that manages Mike Jeffries' homes and wealth. This source didn't witness anything directly related to the events we're investigating, but he was struck by one particular detail mentioned in the lawsuit. We've revoiced his words to protect his identity.

You know, what's interesting, when I read the article, there was a couple of references in there. Like, for example, you know, having to take a bag of sex toys to the plane. I mean, that was me. I did that. I had to. I only worked for them for a year and I hated every second of it.

I've spoken to another former employee who corroborated what this man's been telling me about the bag. They both worked for the Jeffries family office in Mike Jeffries and Matthew Smith's homes. But the lawsuit claims that Abercrombie and Fitch staff also had to pack the sex toy bag ahead of business trips.

There was a Friday they called me and it was like 15 minutes before the plane was leaving. And they were like, "Look, you have to run to the house and in the bedroom, the bedroom closet on the top shelf, there's a bag. Just grab that bag, bring it to the plane, get it here as fast as you can." So here I am running to the house. I grabbed this bag and it was heavy. And I remember driving to the airport and it was on the seat next to me in the car. And I was like opening the bag and I'm looking at it. I didn't even know what it was.

I realized shortly after taking that job that it was something that I never sort of thought it would be. That whole year, you know, it's just, I just couldn't wait to get out of there. Thank you to that source and to everyone else who has contacted us. This is a live investigation and we're working on new leads right now.

If you're listening and want to get in touch, you can email me at rianna at bbc.com. That's R-I-A-N-N-A at bbc.com. Make sure to subscribe to the podcast so you can hear new episodes as soon as they drop. We'll have more coming soon on the Abercrombie Guys.

Thank you to everyone who has downloaded the podcast. It's been amazing reading your reviews online. Please do keep sharing your thoughts. Tell your friends about us and let us know if you have a story that needs investigating. The Abercrombie Guys is presented and investigated by me, Rhianna Croxford, and produced by Ruth Evans.

The BBC News Investigations Editor is Ed Campbell and the podcast editor is Richard Fenton-Smith. Sound design and mix by Tom Brignall. The world of secret theme music is by Jeremy Wormsley.

This podcast is made in collaboration with BBC Panorama. If you're in the UK, you can watch Panorama, The Abercrombie Guys, The Dark Side of Cool on BBC iPlayer Now or on BBC Select if you're in the US. The Abercrombie Guys is a BBC News long-form audio production for BBC Sounds. The commissioner at BBC Sounds is Dylan Haskins. Thank you for listening.

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