Dancing naked, sleazy boss sacked by fashion brand
PICTURED dancing naked around his office, this is the boss of fashion brand American Apparel who was sacked over alleged misconduct. Dov Charney founded the firm in 1989 but has been accused of sexual harassment by at least eight of his staff – and was kicked out of the internationally successful company this week.
The video of the businessman gyrating in the nude in front of two women emerged 24 hours after he was fired.
Charney, who earned himself the nickname ‘ pants optional’ after parading around his US factory in only his underwear, was unanimously voted off the board as chief executive, chairman and president after a four-month investigation into actions considered detrimental to the company.
The short clip of the 45-year- old Canadian businessman shows him dancing naked to upbeat music while talking on his mobile phone.
‘ I’m dancing right now for Daisy,’ he informs someone on the other end of the line. One of the women off-camera is heard telling him to shake his ‘booty’, and he then scuttles away with his hands covering his modesty.
It was not clear last night when the video was taken or whether its discovery had contributed to him being fired.
But a former model for American Apparel has confirmed that the man in the video is ‘100 per cent’ Charney. Another former staff member at the fashion retailer claimed the women in the footage both worked for American Apparel.
Born in Montreal, Charney started American Apparel while
‘Paraded in only his underwear’
he was still a student. It now has 10,000 employees and 249 stores in 20 countries, including the US and the UK.
While many American clothing companies scoured the globe for cheap labour, American Apparel claimed that it was ‘sweatshopfree’ and boasted that its workers earned higher than average salaries.
But the brand has faced criticism for using overtly sexual i mages in s o me of its advertisements. And Charney, who once described himself as ‘a bit of a dirty guy’, has faced repeated accusations of sexual misconduct from female employees.
In one, former saleswoman Irene Morales claimed she was held as a sex slave for eight months just after she turned 18, when she was forced to perform s e xual acts in Charney’s Manhattan apartment.
In a separate claim, Miss Morales and several other woman said they were forced to pose nude in a series of pictures which later surfaced on the internet.
All the cases have been either dismissed or settled, but the company announced Charney’s departure on Wednesday.
Chairman Allan Mayer, who has been on the board since the company went public in 2007, said: ‘We take no joy in this, but the board felt it was the right thing to do.
‘Dov Charney created American Apparel, but the company has grown much larger than any one individual and we are confident that its greatest days are still ahead.’
Charney will be fired once a 30day grace period expires. He is still the f ashion company’s largest shareholder, with an ownership stake of about 27 per cent.
Reports quoted an unnamed source saying that he planned to ‘fight like hell’ to keep control of the firm.
If Charney had resigned before 2014, he would have been entitled to salary and bonuses worth around £3.5million.
But because his position was terminated ‘for cause’ – legal jargon meaning he allegedly did something wrong – Charney is not entitled to compensation.
American Apparel’s share price rose by more than 20 per cent after the announcement. But at 40p a share, the firm’s value has dropped dramatically since 2008, when it could command more than £8 a share.