Mohamed El Fayed

Looking back it was absolutely bloody terrible. I was around 16/17. I’m also brunette and while I was a very pretty girl back then, he had a preference for blondes. The “harem” were all blondes. I don’t like using that term because it suggests they were complicit and they absolutely were not. Horrible little man. I was also employed by a brand and placed in store so while I needed Harrods clearance, I did not go through an interview process there. I am truly surprised it’s taken this long for this to come out as it was such an open secret at the time.

I can see that.

At the same time they've a fucking duty to make sure these things don't happen again within their corporation

I'm sick of this shit as well. Men really hate us.

I was eyebrows raised at the hypocrisy of the BBC doing this expose when they've hidden their pervs

You were there at the same time as someone we know who worked there one summer. She came home telling us about this. Everyone knew then to avoid him she said

Otherwise she had a great experience.

I knew someone in the 90s who worked at Harrods. It was certainly no secret at that time that he had his favourite ladies or would invite someone pretty upstairs

There’s a difference in public persona between AlFayed and Saville, as well as the obvious difference of who was in charge.

Fayed managed to behave like a rich man with access to a personal harem, in properties owned by him, with women employed by him. He was a Sultan, or Emperor, in his world. It’s unsurprising.

Saville was a celebrity fundraiser who turned out to be abusing children, disabled, dead people in government buildings and public places. That is far more extraordinary and shocking.

A man being abusive in his own home is not unusual. The size of Fayed’s ‘home’ is unusual.

P Diddy seems a better comparison

It's very much worth listening to the world at one piece on this:

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0023094?partner=uk.co.bbc&origin=share-mobile

Savile’s crimes were of a different order of magnitude and enormity than El Fayed’s.

Having said that, Savile was known about too, for decades. I was surprised that so many individuals and organisations got away with saying they weren’t aware. I probably knew through Private Eye, which at the very least dropped some very heavy hints, but there were other sources too.

Savile had accommodation at and unrestricted access around Broadmoor ffs. Who signed that off?

I like to think that some of the (no doubt many) sleazy old men still living, who've engaged in similar behaviour, are starting to get twitchy about revelations coming out in their lifetime.

You're being needlessly melodramatic, perhaps women are now no longer quite so shocked and just fatalistic especially about historic crimes.
That cynicism is protective.
Would you have us rend our clothes and throw ourselves on a burning pyre to satisfy the need for weeping and wailing.
Id rather just identify the bastards, and emasculate them literally or figuratively.

I'm sure there will be some sort of enquiry within Harrods.

Jimmy Saville's crimes involved government instituitions, hospitals, the BBC - all colluding to some degree - and also involved children, the disabled, and even the dead - that's why it led to such a huge enquiry.

Thanks, will watch this.

@CassieMaddox you're right, but I think the difference is people are less and less surprised with each of these type of revelations. And Savile was enabled by charities, the bbc, hospitals, all types of institutions. Al fayed was all powerful in his own institution, so the question 'how could this happen?' is so much easier to answer.

I hope for the victims sake they keep it front page for a very long time though.

Pity , Macnamara is dead also.

He was facilitated though wasn't he. His head of security threatened the lady that spoke at the press conference.
The first paragraph of this document makes interesting reading publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199798/cmselect/cmstnprv/030ii/sp0112.htm

Doesn't have to be rich. Just needs to have the power.

Yup, and Gisele Pelicot has made us see it's a lot more than a remote possibility.

Well duh!!

The Press Conference by the representatives of the victims was long and thorough and quite heartening. I hope they can do everything they are saying they will do. Gloria Allder was magnificent. It is worth watching in full on catch up. It was on the news on BBC this morning.

Nor suprised at all. I know someone who worked there 20 years ago and it was an open secret.

Rich, powerful men seem to be untouchable don't they? The level of entitlement and control.
A part of me wonders if all that's stopping the reast of them is lack of opportunity.

Frankly, if a man is:
a) rich
b) in a position of power over women
c)over a certain age (55?60?)
d) has either had that power for a long time or expects to have it for a long time

I reckon it is fairly likely he sexually exploits some of the women he has power over.