BREAKING NEWSFormer Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries Arrested on Trafficking and Prostitution Charges
A civil lawsuit was filed over a year ago.
Former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries was arrested on Tuesday, October 22, on sex trafficking and interstate prostitution charges, a new report revealed. His partner, Matthew Smith, and their associate James Jacobson were also arrested for trafficking.
The men will be arraigned later today.
On Tuesday, October 22, former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries was arrested on trafficking and interstate prostitution charges.
The indictment claimed that more than 12 men — who were aspiring models at the time — were sexually exploited at s-- parties held by Jeffries, 80. Jacobson was accused of recruiting the men to invite to the shindigs, where they were reportedly sexually abused and supplied with drugs and alcohol.
The scandal was covered in an October 2023 exposé by BBC News, prompting A&F to state at the time that they hired an "outside law firm to conduct an independent investigation" into the matter. They also said they were "appalled and disgusted" by the allegations.
Jeffries allegedly sexually exploited young men who were aspiring models.
After the arrests, Jeffries' attorney Brian Bieber stated, "We will respond in detail to the allegations after the Indictment is unsealed, and when appropriate, but plan to do so in the courthouse — not the media."
The attorney for the plaintiff, Brad Edwards, told news outlets, "As we laid out in our lawsuit, this was an Abercrombie run, s-- trafficking organization that permeated throughout the company and allowed the three individuals arrested today to victimize dozens and dozens of young, aspiring male models."
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"Today’s arrests are monumental for the aspiring male models who were victimized by these individuals," added lawyer Brittany Henderson. "Their fight for justice does not end here. We look forward to holding Abercrombie and Fitch liable for facilitating this terrible conduct and ensuring that this cannot happen again."
The fashion guru stepped down from the brand in 2014.
Jeffries was in charge of the brand from 1992 through 2014.
He had previously been under fire for marketing the clothing line solely towards thin teenagers and refusing to sell plus sizes, with many of their male ads featuring shirtless models.
"In every school there are the cool and popular kids, and then there are the not-so-cool kids. Candidly, we go after the cool kids," he confessed in a 2006 interview with Salon. "We go after the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends."
"A lot of people don't belong [in our clothes], and they can't belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely," he nonchalantly admitted. "Those companies that are in trouble are trying to target everybody: young, old, fat, skinny. But then you become totally vanilla. You don't alienate anybody, but you don't excite anybody, either."
The brand started carrying plus sizes in 2013 and underwent a successful overhaul when CEO Fran Horowitz took over in 2017.
NBC News reported on the scandal.
