Nude Photos, Racy Emails: The Fight Over American Apparel CEO Gets Dirtier
The fi
ght between American Apparel (APP) CEO Dov Charney and two former employees who claim he sexually assaulted them got dirty over the weekend when someone posted nude images of the women alongside some racy emails they allegedly sent to the CEO. Charney's lawyer claims they are real. Charney himself declined to comment when reached by BNET.
Their release raises the prospect that both sides in the increasingly vicious fight have managed to violate the binding arbitration agreements that both signed, which include mutual non-disparagement clauses.
And, of course, they indicate how messy things can become when CEOs involve themselves with their employees.
Obviously, many of the following links are NSFW. Three blogs, named for three women who have sued Charney, sprung up in the last couple of days containing dozens of images of Kimbra Lo and Irene Morales, two women who both claim Charney mistreated them.
The blog devoted to Kimbra Lo -- who claims she was imprisoned in Charney's house and used for sex -- shows pictures of her romping in what purports to be Charney's bed, with a note on the photo indicating that the bedroom door is wide open, and thus not locking her in.
The blog devoted to Irene Morales -- who claims she was assaulted at Charney's Manhattan apartment -- contains nude pictures of her coupled with emails and texts in which Morales, using a different name, calls Charney "Daddy" and herself "Daddy's little girl," and promises "more later, yeah? A lot dirtier too..."
The company has long claimed that the women who sue it are simply shakedown artists, annoyed that Charney did not offer them more lucrative employment after briefly using them as models or store clerks.
It is not clear how the materials -- which appear to have been sent to Charney's personal email and phone accounts -- got onto the internet. In the Lo lawsuit, a Brooklyn, N.Y., judge indicated she was leaning toward kicking out the case because of the pre-existing arbitration agreement.
The photos and emails raise the stakes for the company and its accusers. Previously, Charney has settled cases against him, and for years has lived with a reputation that he inappropriately mixes his business, advertising and personal lives. Now, it appears, someone wants to make the women who fall out with him think twice before going public with their allegations.
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