Report: Bella Hadid Among Models Allegedly Sexually Harassed by Victoria’s Secret Executive

US model Bella Hadid walks the runway at the 2018 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show on N
TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images

Models including Bella Hadid and others were allegedly sexually harassed by Victoria’s Secret executive Ed Razek, according to a new report by the New York Times.

The report claims that Razek was accused on multiple occasions of sexually harassing Victoria’s Secret “Angels” — the models who walk the runway adorned with angel wings — and making inappropriate comments to Bella Hadid during a fitting.

The Times reports:

Ed Razek, for decades one of the top executives at L Brands, the parent company of Victoria’s Secret, was the subject of repeated complaints about inappropriate conduct. He tried to kiss models. He asked them to sit on his lap. He touched one’s crotch ahead of the 2018 Victoria’s Secret fashion show. [Emphasis added]

Executives said they had alerted Leslie Wexner, the billionaire founder and chief executive of L Brands, about his deputy’s pattern of behavior. Some women who complained faced retaliation. One model, Andi Muise, said Victoria’s Secret had stopped hiring her for its fashion shows after she rebuffed Mr. Razek’s advances.

In 2018, at a fitting ahead of the fashion show, the supermodel Bella Hadid was being measured for underwear that would meet broadcast standards. Mr. Razek sat on a couch, watching. [Emphasis added]

“Forget the panties,” he declared, according to three people who were there and a fourth who was told about it. The bigger question, he said, was whether the TV network would let Ms. Hadid walk “down the runway with those perfect titties.” (One witness remembered Mr. Razek using the word “breasts,” not “titties.”) [Emphasis added]

The report claims that when models would complain about the alleged sexual harassment, they were punished and reprimanded — not Razek. In one case, former employees said model Andi Muise was not hired for future modeling gigs with Victoria’s Secret after she “rebuffed Mr. Razek’s advances.”

In another case, Razek allegedly berated model Crowe Taylor — who was 5’10 and 140 lbs at the time — over her weight in front of a room full of people. Taylor quit weeks later.

The report alleges that the Victoria’s Secret human resources office repeatedly covered for Razek, forcing one female executive to report Razek to a former board of directors member rather then H.R. The woman was put on administrative leave after she made the complaint. She has since reached a financial settlement with Victoria’s Secret.

Last year, Victoria’s Secret executives announced they were canceling this year’s annual fashion show in order to “evolve the messaging” of the brand after caving to LGBT activists by featuring a transgender panties and bra model in a recent ad campaign.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder

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