Men Trafficked and Abused in Secret by Former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO

On Tuesday morning, Mr Jeffries along with his partner Matthew Smith and a recruiter named James Jacobson were arrested in the West Palm Beach area of Florida. The arrest was made after the FBI began an investigation in 2023 when BBC claimed that the previous CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch and his romantic partner had not only abused but also sexually exploited men during the events that were celebrated not only in New York but also at various locations all over the world.

The arrest of Mike Jeffries was on the cards after shocking accusations were mentioned by eight different men who were being sexually exploited at extravagant parties internationally. It is important to note that Mr Jeffries along with his partner Mr Smith were regulars at the luxurious parties and were in contact with James Jacobson who was the intermediary in arranging such events. The entire business was running for seven years starting in 2008 and occurring till 2015 after which federal prosecutors investigated and discovered that a high amount of money was spent on secret staff members who could run sex events.

The memo also states that both Jeffries and his romantic partner paid for dozens of men to travel to the USA and international locations for the events. It was completely hidden due to a full-service security company that created NDAs, tracked witnesses, and did background checks including other similar activities to ensure complete secrecy. According to the report filed, between December 2008 to March 2015, all three accused would hire men under the pretense of modeling and other career opportunities at Abercrombie & Fitch. These men would be then drugged with muscle relaxants, alcohol as well as other pills and materials to perform such acts.

One of the victims, former model Barret Pall recalls the experience as the darkest experience in his life. He had auditioned to be a model for the third accused James Jacobson and was under the impression that he was being given Abercrombie label clothes for an Abercrombie interview. However, he felt trapped and did not have a chance to say yes or no or even walk away from it. The three accused men led the victims to believe that these sex events were another stepping stone to gaining modeling opportunities. It is important to note that Mike Jeffries was previously named in a class-action lawsuit, wherein he abused his position to prey on young models on the pretext of hiring them as models.

The Assistant Director of FBI's New York Field Office, James Dennehy said that the formal charges are an example of Mike Jeffries and his despicable behavior. He went on to add that the allegations are beyond the ambit of being disgraceful, disturbing, or dishonorable and are criminal. 

Both Jeffries and Jacobson have been released after the payment of $10 million and $500,00 bonds respectively. Mike Jeffries’s partner, Matthew Smith has been detained. Although Abercrombie & Fitch has not made any comments regarding the arrest, they have hired a law firm that will investigate the accusations independently. 

Brian H Bieber, representing Mike Jeffries has said that they will be responding at length regarding the allegations once the formal charges are discussed in court in time. Whereas, the legal representatives of Matthew Smith and James Jacobson either did not respond to requests or were not reachable for comments.