Ex-Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Indicted for Sex Trafficking and Interstate Prostitution
I mean, that tracks
“As alleged in the indictment, former CEO of Abercrombie Michael Jeffries, his partner Matthew Smith and their recruiter James Jacobson used their money and influence to prey on vulnerable men for their own sexual gratification,” stated United States Attorney Peace.
“Today’s arrests show that my Office and our law enforcement partners will not rest until anyone who engages in sex trafficking or interstate prostitution, regardless of their wealth or power, is brought to justice.” - Press Release. United States Attorney’s Office. Eastern District of New York.
Alright. Here we are.
Get ready.
You could smell A&F throughout the mall
If you were a teenager in the era of Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F), this headline may not be surprising to you. If you were in junior high, high school, or early college in the '90s and early 2000s, you were surrounded by A&F clothing and cologne.
Walking through a mall, you could tell where the A&F store was because you could smell it before you could see it.
The company relied on sex to sell its brand. Their walls and shopping bags were plastered with giant photos of shirtless men. These images were provocative on purpose. They were aspirational. Who doesn’t want to be great-looking and fit? Who doesn’t want to be frolicking at the park with their beautiful friends and gorgeous women?
Smiling. Picnicking. Playing football. Slow-motion fun in the sunshine. Fit. Young. Happy. Cool. White young people. This is what the company was selling, and it caught fire.
The company hired toned young men with washboard abs. These men stood at the store entrance as greeters. They were shirtless. A&F recruited people based on looks. They fired people based on looks.
The CEO, Michael Jeffries, was unfiltered when he spoke about it.
"Candidly, we go after the cool kids...A lot of people don’t belong [in our clothes], and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely."
Oh, okay.
Sales associates were white kids referred to as “models”
A&F branded themselves as the sexy, preppy, all-American choice for white kids. There were no people of color in their advertising. Anyone who worked in a store who wasn’t white worked in the stock room. The white kids, “brand reps” or “models” the company called them, walked around the sales floor in cute outfits. They sometimes recovered a table or helped a customer, but these things weren’t a priority.
In 2003, the company was sued over discriminatory practices. This is no secret. The company settled for $40 million. They also had to promise to hire more people of color, hire a VP of diversity, and provide training for people who were part of the hiring process.
The company did all these things, but there also weren’t many repercussions if they didn't comply.
Eventually, the retail stores became more diverse. The executive/C-suite side did not.
Jeffries was still the man at the top. What he said went.
Abercrombie was also sued for religious discrimination. In 2015, the United Staes Supreme Court
“held that an employer may not refuse to hire an applicant if the employer was motivated by avoiding the need to accommodate a religious practice. Such behavior violates the prohibition on religious discrimination contained in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.” - EEOC.gov
The plaintiff, Samantha Elauf, was denied a job. She wore a headscarf, a hijab, as part of her Muslim faith.
Alright.
Now you know the kind of company we’re talking about.
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White Hot
The Netflix documentary White Hot: The Rise and Fall of Abercrombie & Fitch shows that the male models faced a culture of sexual harassment.
(By the way, this movie has terrible ratings, but I thought it was fine.
Not riveting, but like, okay.)
The models claim that the photographer on the A&F photo shoots would conduct breathing exercises with them, with their hand on their chests. He would then put his hand on top of their hand and test them to see how far down their bodies they were comfortable going.
One model also claimed that he was invited to the photographer’s home for dinner. It was a last-minute thing. The photographer called him out of the blue and was like, “Come over for dinner. I’m sending a car.”
The guy declined. Two minutes later, he received a phone call telling him to pack his bags. They booked him a flight out that night.
Damn.
Side note - A&F was owned by L Brands at this time. L Brands was run by Les Wexner. Wexner was a giant in retail back then. He took small brands and turned them into powerhouses like Victoria’s Secret. He also started many stores that are mall staples today, like The Limited and Express.
The Wexner family is currently worth $7.9 billion.
Jeffrey Epstein was Les Wexner’s confidant and financial manager.
“It was the darkest experience of my life”
The indictment lists 15 victims, but prosecutors say the case involves “dozens and dozens” of men.
Jeffries, Smith, and Jacobson allegedly used their power and influence to lure men into sex by suggesting they could become models for the company.
Prosecutors go on to allege that these men were invited to parties, given alcohol, muscle relaxers, and Viagra. If these men did not or could not consent, they were violated anyway.
The Feds have asked for other victims to come forward.
“…it was the darkest experience of my life.” - Barret Pall, former model.
Michael Jeffries has pleaded not guilty and asked the court to determine if he is mentally fit to face sex trafficking charges. He is 80 years old.
People are done being silent
While this headline is not surprising, it is still gut-wrenching and sad.
All these kids had dreams that were absolutely crushed by the narcissistic, greedy, power-hungry dudes at the top. These guys made decisions from their sprawling offices spread out over acres of grass.
They didn’t have to tell the one Black girl on the sales floor that there were no more hours for her - some store manager they’d never met had to do it. Imagine all the lies these store managers had to tell on behalf of these men. Imagine how awful that would be—to have to lie to your employees all day to try to keep the racism hidden.
I mean, it was there if you looked at the business model for more than a minute, but oh my god. And all these models that were just looking for their break. They were tricked, drugged, violated, and thrown out.
Massive corporations, CEOs, greed, excess, abuse - there is a reckoning happening. People are rising up against it. There will be more cases to come.
People are done being silent.
Note: The A&F CEO is now Fran Horowitz. She took over in 2017. Horowitz has been credited with leading the company into a customer-first mindset. “We developed new policies, revised our store experience to be more welcoming, updated the fit of our garments, the size range, and the styling of all our products,” she said.
Q3 2024 - A&F reported a record third quarter net sales of $1.2 billion, up 14% from last year with comparable sales of 16%. Broad-based net sales growth across regions and brands, with Abercrombie brands growth of 15% and Hollister brands growth of 14%.
Kit Campoy is an author and retail expert with two decades of experience leading retail teams. Today, she freelance writes for world-class SaaS Retail Tech companies.
This has such a sickening familiar ring to it. And I can't believe the connection to other famous known predators! I do hope we follow your lead and never keep silent.