Victoria’s Secret, hurt by the Epstein effect, lays off 50 employees

CEO of parent company remains under scrutiny over his ties to disgraced dead financier

Victoria’s Secret is laying off about 15 per cent of the brand’s employees at its Columbus, Ohio, HQ as the beleaguered lingerie chain struggles to reshape its image and the chief executive of its parent company remains under scrutiny for his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.

The cuts, which took place Wednesday and Thursday, involved about 50 people and range from senior leaders to junior staff, according to three people with knowledge of the situation.

The timing of the layoffs was unusual in the retail industry, just before the key holiday season — and followed an optimistic outlook delivered to investors by the chief of its parent company, Leslie Wexner, last month. L Brands, the parent company, also owns Bath & Body Works.

Language in the separation agreement given to at least some laid-off employees seemed to speak to the intense microscope the company finds itself under.

The agreement document, which was reviewed by the New York Times, asked departing executives to agree that they would not make any statements to the media about the company, its employees or operations.

Victoria’s Secret, once a powerhouse that shaped the notion of sexiness for many Americans, has found itself at odds with consumer tastes in the #MeToo era.

The brand has also been dogged by Wexner’s ties to Epstein, the financier who was arrested in July and charged with sex trafficking involving girls as young as 14.

Wexner, 82, has sought to distance himself from the financier, who he employed for more than a decade.

He has also said Epstein “misappropriated vast sums of money” from him and his family, though no charges were filed.

Epstein died in August in prison in what authorities said was an apparent suicide.