Mohammed Al Fayed.

GrannyH knowing what you know now do you still think he was in your words he was a very nice man ? You have no idea if anyone was abused or not in your little community they don’t have it written on their foreheads and they don’t tell ANYONE
I can t believe a few of these replies and how woman can so dismiss other women and disbelieve anything that doesn’t fit with their own ways and experiences

Wow Yearoff it’s called having an opinion.There’s no shaming at all just surprise that women would travel around with Fayed when they knew his reputation.
Am def sorry for any young girl he took advantage of or tried to in his office within the store ( hopefully they left as soon as they could) but can’t understand why others would visit his mansions and hotels in other countries.It may not be a popular view but so be it.

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Wow @Oreo you just keep shaming. It’s called an abuse of power. It’s only recently that women have even been listened to regarding sexual assault never mind felt confident enough to make a complaint. Plus I think you find that these predators choose their victims for their vulnerability.

Babs03

@Oreo, Epstein’s victims also flew to exotic locations with him, and stayed in his palatial apartment in Manhattan. Depends whether you think young women subjected to sexual servitude/abuses are having a ball because it is happening abroad or in lavish surroundings.

Epstein and his set up were a world away from working in a London store.The two just cannot be compared.

I think it will too, I'll be watching with interest

Thank you.
I guess all will come to light, one way or another.

It was a very small close knit team, changes in behaviour would have been noticed and talked about so yes I do think someone would have mentioned something

@Oreo, Epstein’s victims also flew to exotic locations with him, and stayed in his palatial apartment in Manhattan. Depends whether you think young women subjected to sexual servitude/abuses are having a ball because it is happening abroad or in lavish surroundings.

Would you expect to be informed if anything untoward had happened to young members of staff?

I am far from being young but I worked for him in his Highland Estate 2010 to 2012, the team looked after his private family residence so we saw a lot of him and his family when they visited. I found him to be typical of some men that age, a bit crude with his jokes but actually a nice man, he would have a wallet full of £50 notes and would dish them out willy nilly, we had members of staff who fit the profile he supposedly preferred and not once was there anything like this ever even hinted at. The queen supposedly refused to give him his visa due to his former arms deals.
I'm not saying the Harrods staff are lying but having spent time in his company I'm just not convinced, why wait until a year after his death, surely after he sold Harrods there was nothing to be afraid of? And by the way we never had to have internal examinations either, there's no way I'd have ever agreed to that. We had an in depth background check by his team in London but after what he believed happened to Dodi he was totally paranoid.

cc

Like others I'm puzzled by why these women let themselves be put in this position. Who on earth would choose to be alone with a man with a repulation for sexual impropriety, let alone in an hotel room. Several of the compainants appear to have been his PA's who must have known him well.
We had a student lodger years ago who regularly worked in Harrods during the sales. She was well aware of his reputation.

Some of the complainants went to Abu Dahbi, Monte Carlo and Paris with him, or to his Park Lane flat.I can’t understand it either.

MissInterpreted

That may be your view, Oreo - but in your comments throughout this thread, whether you meant it to or not, it comes across that you couldn't understand why any woman wouldn't simply slap a man across the face or walk out of a job. You reacted one way - the fact that some froze or reacted differently doesn't make those reactions any less valid. You have no idea what other pressures other woman may have been under at the time. You are entitled to your view and your opinion, of course - but other opinions and experiences are just as valid.

Yeah, it is my view.
It’s a misunderstanding on your and others part if you think I said anyone ‘should have slapped him in the face’ those words are simply not there in any of my comments.
Walk out of the job yes, and I still believe, no matter what anyone else says or thinks that anyone subject to a sexual assault would leave the job, no matter who the boss was and no matter what threats were issued, if indeed they were.
Of course other reactions are valid, we’re all different in the way we act/react and I have already said that in my previous post to this one.

The bodyguard who survived the Diana crash politely skirted around the issue of hoe very manipulative Al Fayed is, with a whole host of people who will do his bidding.

It never ceases to amaze me that instead of condemning the predator in all of this people delight in blaming the victims.
And the reason why young women might put up with sexual abuse or exploitation are varied, some might have been threatened by Al Fayed and his security staff, indeed I believe they were told that their families would suffer if they said anything. Also knowing that so many would judge them as they are doing on this thread now would be a big reason why they would put up with it rather than speaking out. And I imagine just walking out could be tricky if Al Fayed wished for them to stay and be at his beck and call. Let’s not forget that in every case when powerful and influential men have exploited young women or men the victims have felt unable to come forward until a brave victim does so or the predator dies. As in the case if Savile.
Certainly if these young women were molested and raped their self confidence would be on the floor and they would be incapable of thinking straight, something a serial predator knows only too well.
As for accepting money or gifts, of course Al Fayed would pay for their silence.

He was a revolting man, and his security team are also to blame, lawyers should go after them for compensation as well.

Perhaps they were of the opinion that nothing would happen to them, and that those it did happen to need only scream and it would stop him in his tracks?

Like others I'm puzzled by why these women let themselves be put in this position. Who on earth would choose to be alone with a man with a repulation for sexual impropriety, let alone in an hotel room. Several of the compainants appear to have been his PA's who must have known him well.
We had a student lodger years ago who regularly worked in Harrods during the sales. She was well aware of his reputation.

That may be your view, Oreo - but in your comments throughout this thread, whether you meant it to or not, it comes across that you couldn't understand why any woman wouldn't simply slap a man across the face or walk out of a job. You reacted one way - the fact that some froze or reacted differently doesn't make those reactions any less valid. You have no idea what other pressures other woman may have been under at the time. You are entitled to your view and your opinion, of course - but other opinions and experiences are just as valid.

What I wouldn’t have done, in any circumstances is to stay in the same workplace.

icanhandthemback and MissInterpreted you also had a bad experience with a man, just as I did (icanhandthemback yours was far worse.) My own experience was my own, all sexual assaults are different just as the reactions to them are too.I merely stated that I slapped the man in the face, it was an instinctive reaction on my part.Nobody need feel shame for being attacked.

...and he was a liar. www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/02/mohamed-al-fayed-obituary

Actually, it's trafficking, rape and abuse, because the attacks took place in different countries - London, Paris, Saint-Tropez and Abu Dhabi... The ultimate in 'my way or the highway' attitude of the rich and famous and predatory.

Mm but some didn't seem to mind when they were living the high life on the side, with expensive trips, & gifts etc
I wonder why it takes years and suddenly so many jumping on the £chink chink£ band wagon
I don’t believe the too scared to speak up, there would be the same danger if so many men involved
And watching tv this am I noticed one woman stated she “pushed him off and ran across the room into (HER BEDROOM) “ Her Bedroom? Erm thought she had gone back for a drink? What’s she expect a ginger nut with a coffee ? Come on …
I’m taking all this with a pinch of salt, and shrug.

icanhandthemback I am so sorry for your experience. As I said earlier in this thread, when I was assaulted, I too froze. If anyone had asked me before that what I would do in those circumstances, I'd have said, 'oh, I'd slap the man, shout, scream etc', but when it actually happened, I froze completely. I couldn't move a muscle, far less shout or scream, and to this day, I feel absolutely ashamed that that is how I reacted - even though I now know that freezing is a very common response. Views like Oreo's have brought that shame rushing back to me.