Five women say former Harrods boss Mohamed Al Fayed rape dem wen dem work for di luxury London department store.
Di BBC don hear testimony from more dan 20 female ex-employees wey say di billionaire, wey die last year aged 94, sexually assault dem – including rape.
Di documentary and podcast – Al-Fayed: Predator at Harrods – gada evidence say, during Fayed ownership, Harrods not only fail to intervene, but help to cover up abuse allegations.
Harrods current owners say dem dey “utterly appalled” by di allegations and say im victims dey failed by di system – for dat, di store sincerely apologise.
“Di spider web of corruption and abuse for dis company dey unbelievable and very dark,” na so barrister Bruce Drummond, from a legal team wey dey represent a number of di women tok.
Warning: dis story contain details wey some go find distressing.
Di incidents take place for London, Paris, St Tropez and Abu Dhabi.
“I make am obvious say I no want dat to happen. I no give consent. I just wan am to dey over,” na so one of di women, wey say Fayed rape her for im Park Lane apartment tok.
Anoda woman say she bin be a teenager wen im rape her for di Mayfair address.
“Mohamed Al Fayed na monster, a sexual predator wey no get any moral compass whatsoever,” she tok, come add say all di staff for Harrods bin be im “playthings”.
“We all bin dey so scared. E actively cultivate fear. If e say ‘jump’ employees go ask ‘how high’.”
Fayed face sexual assault claims while im bin dey alive, but dis allegations dey different in terms of di scale and seriousness. Di BBC believe say many more women fit don dey assaulted.
‘Fayed bin dey horrible’
Fayed entrepreneurial career begin on di streets of Alexandria, Egypt, wia im hawk fizzy drinks to passers-by. But na im marriage to di sister of a millionaire Saudi arms dealer na in help am forge new connections and build a business empire.
E move to di UK for 1974 and don already become a well-known public figure wen im take over Harrods for 1985. In di 1990s and 2000s, im go regularly appear as a guest on prime-time TV chat and entertainment shows.
Meanwhile, Fayed – wey im son Dodi bin die for car crash alongside Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1997 – don become known to a new generation through di two most recent Netflix series of The Crown.
But di women we don tok to say di way dem portray am as pleasant pesin dey far from di truth.
“He bin dey horrible,” na so one of di women, Sophia, wey work as im personal assistant from 1988 to 1991 tok. She say im try to rape her more dan once.
“Dat tin dey make me angry, pipo no suppose remember am like dat. No be so im bin dey.”
Some of di women waive, or partially waive, dia right to anonymity to be filmed – and di BBC agree not to use surnames. Odas chose to remain anonymous. Put togeda, dia testimonies reveal a pattern of predatory behaviour and sexual abuse by Fayed.
Di Harrods owner go regularly tour di department store big sales floors and identify young female assistants wey e find to dey attractive, wey e go come promote to work for im offices upstairs – na so former staff, male and female, tell us.
Di assaults go happen for Harrods’ offices, for Fayed London apartment, or on foreign trips – often for Paris at di Ritz hotel, wey e also be di owner, or im nearby Villa Windsor property.
For Harrods, oda former staff members tell us say e dey clear wetin bin dey happen.
“We all watch each oda waka through dat door thinking, ‘you poor girl, na your turn today’ and we feel powerless to stop am,” na so Alice, not her real name, tok.
‘E rape me’
Rachel, not her real name, work as a personal assistant for Harrods in di 1990s.
One night after work, she say e call her to im luxury apartment, for one large block on Park Lane wey overlook London Hyde Park. Di building bin dey protected by security staff and get an on-site office staffed by Harrods employees.
Rachel say Fayed ask her to sidon for im bed and den put im hand for her leg, making it clear wetin im want.
“I remember feeling im body on me, di weight of am. Just hearing as e dey make dis noises. And… I just go somewhere else for my head.
“E rape me.”
Di BBC don tok to 13 women wey say Fayed sexually assault dem for 60 Park Lane. Four of dem, including Rachel, say dem bin dey raped.
Sophia, wey say she bin dey sexually assaulted, describe di whole situation as an inescapable nightmare.
“I no fit leave. I no get a [family] home to go back to, I get pay rent,” she tok. “I know say I get to go through dis and I bin no want to. E dey horrible and my head bin dey scrambled.”
Gemma, wey work as one of Fayed personal assistants between 2007-09, say im behaviour become more frightening during work trips abroad.
She say e come reach di peak wen e rape her for Villa Windsor for Paris’s Bois de Boulogne – a former home, post-abdication, of King Edward VIII and im wife Wallis Simpson.
Gemma say she wake up suddenly for her bedroom. Fayed dey next to her bed and e wear just a silk dressing gown. E come try to get into bed with her.
“I tell am, ‘no, I no want you to’. And e proceed to just keep trying to get in di bed, at which point e come dey kind of on top of me and [I] really no fit move anywia.
“I bin dey kind of face down on di bed and e just press imsef on me.”
She say after Fayed rape her finish she cry, while im get up and tell her aggressively to wash hersef with Dettol.
“Obviously e want me to erase any trace of say im bin dey anywia near me,” she explain.
Eight oda women don also tell us dem sef bin dey sexually assaulted by Fayed for im properties in Paris. Five women describe di assaults as attempted rape.
‘Open secret’
“Di abuse of women, I bin dey aware of am wen I bin dey on di shop floor,” na so Tony Leeming, a Harrods department manager from 1994 to 2004 tok. E “no even be a secret sef”, Mr Leeming recall, even as e say e no know about more serious allegations of assault or rape.
“And I think if I know, evribodi too know. Anyone wey say dem no know dey lie, I’m sorry”.
Mr Leeming testimony dey backed up by former members of Fayed security team.
“We bin dey aware say im get dis very strong interest in young girls,” na so Eamon Coyle tok, wey join Harrods in 1979 as a store detective, den become deputy director of security from 1989-95.
Meanwhile, Steve, who no want us to use im surname, work for di billionaire between 1994-95. E tell us say security staff “bin know say certain things bin dey happen to certain female employees for Harrods and Park Lane”.
Many of di women tell us say wen dem begin to work directly for Fayed, dem undergo medicals – including invasive sexual health tests carried out by doctors.
Dem present dis tests as something extra, di women tell us, but many of dem no see dia own results – even though dem send am to Fayed.
“E no get any benefit to anybodi to know wetin my sexual health be, unless you dey plan to sleep with somebodi, wey to think of now dey make cold catch me,” na so Katherine, wey bin be executive assistant in 2005 tok.
‘Culture of fear’
All di women we tok to say dem bin dey feel intimidated at work – and dis make am difficult for dem to speak out.
Sarah, not her real name, explain: “A culture of fear bin most definitely dey across di whole store – from di lowliest of di low, to di most senior pesin.”
Odas tell us say dem believe say di phones for Harrods bin dey tapped – and say women bin dey scared of talking to each oda about Fayed abuse, fearing say hidden cameras dem film dem.
Di ex-deputy director of security, Eamon Coyle, confam dis one – and explain how part of im job na to listen to tapes of recorded calls. Cameras wey fit record bin dey installed throughout di store, e tok, including di executive suites.
“He [Fayed] bug evribodi wey im wan bug.”
Harrods tell di BBC for statement say all dis na di actions of individual “wey get intent on abusing im power” wey dem condemn in di strongest terms.
E say: “Di Harrods of today na a very different organisation to di one owned and controlled by Al Fayed between 1985 and 2010, na one wey seek to put di welfare of our employees at di heart of evritin we do.”
E bin get a number of attempts to expose Fayed before im death – notably by Vanity Fair in 1995 – with an article wey allege racism, staff surveillance and sexual misconduct. Dis one bin spark a libel lawsuit.
Mohamed Al Fayed later agree to drop di case as long as all di further evidence di magazine bin don gada of im sexual misconduct in preparation for a trial dey locked away. Fayed settlement bin dey negotiated by a senior Harrods executive.
For 1997, ITV The Big Story bin report further serious allegations including sexual harassment and groping – wey dey classed as sexual assault.
One of di women for di BBC investigation, Ellie, not her real name, bin dey 15 in 2008 wen she report an assault to di police – an allegation wey bin make headlines – but e no result in any charge.
In 2017, Channel 4 Dispatches broadcast allegations of groping, assault and harassment, with one woman waiving her right to anonymity for di first time. E give some women di courage to come forward – and e bin dey followed by a 2018 investigation on Channel 4 News.
But na only now, as Mohamed Al Fayed don die last year, wey many of di women don feel able to speak publicly about rape and attempted rape.
Cash and NDAs
Di BBC documentary reveal say, as part of Gemma settlement in 2009, she get to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA), a legally-binding contract wey ensure say di information remain confidential.
She say after she bin dey raped, she bin contact a lawyer wey tell Harrods she dey leave her job on di grounds of sexual harassment. Gemma say she bin no feel able, at dat time, to disclose di full extent and seriousness of Fayed assaults.
Harrods agree say she fit leave and dem go pay a sum of money in exchange for her shredding – tearing – all evidence and signing NDA. Gemma say a member of Harrods HR team bin dey present as di shredding take place.
Di BBC don hear say women bin dey threatened and intimidated by Harrods den-director of security, John Macnamara, to stop dem from speaking out.
Fourteen of di women we tok to recently bring civil claims against Harrods for damages. Di shop current owners, wey no dey ask women to sign NDAs, start to settle dem for July 2023.
E take Sophia and Harrods five years to reach an agreement. For her case, di store express regret but dem no admit liability. Many more women now dey consider legal action against Harrods.
Di barristers wey dey represent some of di women we tok to – Bruce Drummond and Dean Armstrong KC – argue say di store dey responsible for an unsafe system of work.
“Any place of work get a duty to ensure di safety of dia employees. Without question, di company fail dis ladies,” Mr Drummond tok.
“Dat na why we step in. Becos dem just do nothing to actually prevent dis. Dem do di opposite. Dem enable am.”
Mr Armstrong add: “We say dia have been clearly attempts by di senior pipo at Harrods to sweep dis under di carpet.”
Many more women now dey consider legal action against Harrods.
Barrister Maria Mulla – wey also dey on di legal team representing some of di women – say clients dey come forward now, becos previously, dem bin dey “absolutely scarse” to speak out.
“Dem want to be part of dis movement of holding pipo accountable for wetin don happen to dem, and trying to make sure say dis things no happen again in di future for dia own children and for dia children.”
Harrods tell di BBC: “Since new information come to light in 2023 about historic allegations of sexual abuse by Al Fayed, na our priority to settle claims in di quickest way possible. Dis process still dey available for any current or former Harrods employees.
“While we no fit undo di past, we dey determined to do di right thing as an organisation, driven by di values we hold today, while ensuring say such behaviour no go dey repeated in di future.”
Di Ritz hotel in Paris say dem “strongly condemn all forms of behaviour wey no align with di values of di establishment”.
Wen Fayed die, unconfirmed reports bin estimate im worth in excess of £1bn. But money no be di motivation for di women to speak out, dem tok.
“I don spend so many years being quiet and silent, not speaking up,” Gemma tok, “and I hope talking about am now go help. We all go start to feel better and heal from am.”
