London luxury department store Harrods has apologised for allegations that its former owner, billionaire businessman Mohamed Al Fayed, raped and sexually assaulted several former employees.
In a BBC documentary and podcast, more than 20 former employees testified that Al Fayed, who died last year aged 94, sexually assaulted them in incidents in London, Paris, Saint Tropez and Abu Dhabi.
One of the women who accused Al-Fayed of raping her when she was a teenager described him as a “monster” who “always instilled fear”, according to Reuters news agency.
According to the BBC documentary aired on Thursday, Harrods failed to take action and helped cover up allegations of abuse during his ownership of the company between 1985 and 2010. All the women the BBC spoke to said they felt intimidated in the workplace.
“We are deeply shocked and dismayed by the allegations of abuse committed by Mohamed Al Fayed,” Harrods said in a statement. “These are the actions of someone whose clear intention was to abuse his power.”
“We also acknowledge that during this period we have let down the victims, and for this we offer our sincere apologies,” the company added in the statement, noting that the chain of stores is now “a completely different organization” from the one owned and controlled by Al Fayed.
Several media outlets have exposed allegations of sexual assault against Al Fayed in the past, including Vanity Fair in 1995, ITV in 1997 and Channel 4 in 2017. It was not until Al Fayed’s death last year that many women had the courage to speak out.