Monday’s Panorama had – I believe uniquely in the programme’s 70-year history, and certainly for the first time since social media came into being – been teased for a week. The results of a special investigation would be revealed, it promised, but gave no further clues and managed to avoid any leaks. In what felt like a slightly distasteful move, capitalising on the grim story and therefore the alleged victims’ suffering, the announcement came after the Russell Brand rape and sexual harassment allegations. Imaginations were duly seized and speculation mounted that it would be something similarly celebrity-led. If not, it would be something constitutionally weighty that was more in keeping with the BBC’s flagship current-affairs programme. The revelation of another Partygate-type scandal perhaps, or the tracing of some of the billions that effectively disappeared from the nation’s coffers into private pockets during the pandemic? The list could, and on Twitter (now X), Facebook and WhatsApp groups around the country, did go on.
In the end, it was neither celebrity fish nor governmental fowl. It was a set of allegations against the former CEO of American clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch, Mike Jeffries, and his life partner Matthew Smith, uncovered by a two-year investigation by BBC correspondent Rianna Croxford. It is claimed that, via a middleman called James Jacobson (known as Jim, and who denies any coercive, deceptive or forceful behaviour), young men were recruited for sex parties under the guise of being offered opportunities to model for the brand (when it was at the height of its success and, especially in the US, a huge force to be reckoned with in the industry). The BBC spoke to eight men who attended or helped organise the events. Some say they were misled about the nature of their event; others say they knew sex would be involved but not the extent of it.
