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- Mike Jeffries faces allegations that he exploited men at sex events, per a BBC investigation.
- The BBC spoke to eight men who say they attended these events, some of whom allege they were abused.
- Abercrombie & Fitch said it was "appalled and disgusted" by these allegations.
The former boss of fashion giant Abercrombie & Fitch has been accused of exploiting men for sex.
A BBC investigation spoke to 12 men, eight of whom attended events hosted by Mike Jeffries and his partner Matthew Smith between 2009 and 2015, at which some said they had been sexually abused.
These men told the BBC they were recruited by a middleman, identified as James Jacobson, and were paid to fly out to Jeffries' properties and luxury hotels around the world, with modeling opportunities with Abercrombie & Fitch promised as an additional reward.
Some of the accusers told the BBC that Jacobson sexually "auditioned "them before being introduced to Jeffries and Smith.
At these parties, several accusers said they were pressured into having sex. The BBC named two accusers who shared their experiences.
One, David Bradberry, told the BBC that he "didn't feel safe to say 'no'" to sex with Jeffries.
Another recruit, Barrett Pall, also said he felt under pressure to "perform" when he was recruited for an event in the Hamptons in 2011. He was 22 at the time and said he was groped by Jeffries and received oral sex while the then-Abercrombie CEO and his partner watched.
"This experience, I think it broke me," he told the BBC. "I think that this stole any ounce of innocence that I had left. It mentally messed me up. But with the language I now have today, I can sit here and tell you that I was taken advantage of."
In a statement to the BBC, James Jacobson said that "any encounter I had was fully consensual, not coercive," adding that: "Everyone I came into contact with who attended these events went in with their eyes wide open."
Brad Edwards, a civil lawyer who examined the BBC's findings, suggested that there may be grounds for charges of sex trafficking. Abercrombie & Fitch told the BBC that it was "appalled and disgusted" by the alleged behavior of its former CEO.
Jeffries stood down as Abercrombie & Fitch CEO in 2014 after more than two decades at the helm of the teen fashion giant.
During his time in charge, he built Abercrombie into a retail powerhouse, turning it into a status symbol among American teens.
Jeffries wanted Abercrombie to be seen as an exclusive club for wealthy teens, famously saying in an interview in 2006: "A lot of people don't belong [in our clothes], and they can't belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely."
By the time Jeffries departed, the company was in decline, having witnessed 11 straight quarters of falling sales and faced lawsuits for alleged racism at the company.
Mike Jeffries and Matthew Smith could not be reached for comment.
A spokesperson for Abercrombie & Fitch said: "We are appalled and disgusted by the behavior described in the allegations against Mr. Jeffries, whose employment with Abercrombie & Fitch Co. ended in 2014, nearly ten years ago."
They continued: "Since being contacted by the BBC, we have engaged an outside law firm to conduct an independent investigation into the issues raised.
"We have zero tolerance for abuse, harassment or discrimination of any kind."