Former Harrods employees accuse Mohamed Al-Fayed of sexual harassment

Lawyers for 37 people who said they were sexually abused by Al-Fayed – including former Harrods employees – spoke at a press conference reported by Sky News and BBC News.

The lawyers said Al-Fayed “used his wealth and power to manipulate and control victims,” ​​many of whom were between 19 and 24 years old when they began working for Al-Fayed.

Some were only 15 or 16 years old, they added.

According to lawyer Gloria Allred, the charges against Al-Fayed include serial rape, attempted rape, sexual assault and sexual abuse of minors.

She said there was “something rotten at the core of Harrods”, adding that “beneath the glitz and glamour” there was a climate of abuse.

Friday's press conference followed a BBC investigation in which 20 former Al-Fayed employees said he had sexually harassed or raped them.

“I made it clear that I did not want this. I did not consent. I just wanted it to be over,” an unnamed woman told the broadcaster. She said Al-Fayed raped her in his flat in London's upscale Park Lane.

Another unnamed woman, who said she was a teenager when the billionaire raped her, told the BBC that he was “a monster, a sexual predator with no moral basis whatsoever.”

She added that he viewed his employees as his “toys” and that he “actively stoked fear.”

BBC reporting revealed that Harrods failed to intervene and protect the women who said they were abused.

In an online statement, the business that sold Al-Fayed in 2010 said: “We are deeply appalled by the allegations of abuse of power made by Mohamed Al Fayed. These were the actions of an individual who sought to abuse his power wherever he operated and we condemn them in the strongest possible terms.”

“We also recognize that his victims were let down during this time and for that we sincerely apologize. We are doing everything we can to make amends,” the statement continued.

The online statement also included a form for current or former employees who had been abused by Al-Fayed to contact them.

Al-Fayed was accused of sexual misconduct during his lifetime.

In 2008, CNN reported that when questioned by police, he denied sexually abusing a minor.

In a 2018 Channel 4 News investigation, several women reported being sexually harassed and assaulted by Al-Fayed.

Al-Fayed owned Harrods for 26 years and later Fulham Football Club and the Paris Ritz. According to ForbesHis net worth was around $2 billion when he diedHe was reportedly buried next to his son.

Princess Diana and her sons Prince William and Prince Harry famously vacationed on Fayed's yacht in St. Tropez in 1997 – events that were dramatized in the Netflix series “The Crown.”