On Tuesday, former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries, his partner Matt Smith, and a third man, Jim Jacobson, were arrested as part of a criminal sex trafficking probe led by the FBI and federal prosecutors in New York. Jeffries was apprehended in West Palm Beach, Florida, but all three will be arraigned at a later date in the Eastern District of New York. Each of them faces one count of sex trafficking and 15 counts of interstate prostitution, from 15 alleged victims.
The indictment accuses all three men of operating a sex trafficking scheme between December 2008 and March 2015, in which they would recruit men to engage in “sex events” under the guise that they help them become models, or attain positions at, the company. Jeffries was at the helm of Abercrombie & Fitch from 1992 to 2014, when he stepped down.
“While Jeffries was the CEO of one of the most recognizable clothing retailers in the world, he was using his power, his wealth and his influence to traffic men for his own sexual pleasure and that of his romantic partner, Matthew Smith,” Breon Peace, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, told reporters during a press conference.
Among the most disturbing details in the indictment are claims that Jeffries and Smith hired household staff to specifically supervise the events at their homes: Among their duties was surveilling and controlling all the entrances and exits, and attendees weren’t allowed to leave unless they were given permission. Additionally, the men were directed to wear costumes, use sex toys, and prepare for specific sex acts.
Further, the filing states that Jeffries and Smith either personally injected or instructed their staff to inject the men with an unidentified drug so that they would engage in sex acts “in which they were otherwise physically incapable or unwilling.” A side effect of said drug often caused painful physical reactions that didn’t relent for several hours, according to prosecutors.
Since January, the FBI has investigated Jeffries and Smith for the alleged sexual exploitation and abuse of scores of men. They were previously named as defendants in a civil lawsuit filed in October 2023 by former Abercrombie & Fitch model, David Bradberry, and other victims.
The civil suit made headlines after the 2023 premiere of The Abercrombie Guys: The Dark Side Of Cool, a BBC documentary and podcast series that saw eight men—all former models—accusing Jeffries and Smith of engaging in sexual activity with them or “directing” them to have sex with each other at his parties in London, Paris, and Marrakesh between 2009 and 2015. Other properties owned by Jeffries and Smith in the U.S.—an estate in the Hamptons, to name one—were alleged to have been the site of abuse.
The civil suit claimed that Jeffries coerced men to attend these events with money and promises to feature them in an Abercrombie campaign—and that more than 100 men were sexually abused by Jeffries during his tenure as CEO. The operation is said to have expanded exponentially over time with some participants becoming “recruiters” who would receive $1,000 for referrals. Many of the recruiters, per the indictment, were heterosexual men who claimed to have been groomed by the men and forced to relinquish personal items, including clothing, wallets, and cell phones.
At least four of the accusers who spoke to the BBC claim they were misled about what happened at Jeffries and Smith’s parties—some of which were disguised as “casting events.” Sex, they said they were told, was not expected, while others said they felt the potential of modeling for the famed brand was too much of an incentive to not attend. During these events, some accusers said they felt degraded or worse.
Jeffries and Smith’s alleged victims claim they were recruited by Jacobson, who is accused of acting as a middleman—a charge that was also included in the BBC documentary, in which Jeffries and Smith were accused of hiring a “scout” to recruit young men to have sex with them or each other in exchange for money and modeling gigs. Jacobson, per the indictment, traveled the world to recruit victims by conducting auditions of potential candidates by forcing them to perform sex acts on him.
“As we laid out in our lawsuit, this was an Abercrombie run, sex trafficking organization that permeated throughout the company and allowed the three individuals arrested today to victimize dozens and dozens of young, aspiring male models,” Brad Edwards, the attorney for Bradberry, told ABC News in a statement.
Meanwhile, Jeffries’ attorney, Brian Bieber, had this to offer: “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.”
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