Late Mohamed Al-Fayed Was a ‘Monster,’ Says Lawyer as Survivor Outlines Alleged Abuse

Mar. 15, 2025

“I have never seen a case as horrific as this,” lawyer Dean Armstrong said at a press conference in London.

The lawyers, from left, Bruce Drummond, Dean Armstrong, Gloria Allred, Natacha, and lawyer Maria Mulla at the press conference on Sept. 20, 2024.Yui Mok/PA Images via Getty

Yui Mok/PA Images via Getty

He welcomed the “admission” from Harrods in a statement on Thursday, Sept. 19 that they had “failed these women.” But he added, “It is time they took responsibility, and it is time that they set matters right. That is something they should do as soon as possible.”

Survivor Natacha (left) and lawyer Maria Mulla during the press conference in London, Sept. 20.Yui Mok/PA Images via Getty

“These were the actions of an individual who was intent on abusing his power wherever he operated and we condemn them in the strongest terms. We also acknowledge that during this time as a business we failed our employees who were his victims and for this we sincerely apologize.”

Mohamed Al Fayed opening Harrods sale.Jeff Overs/BBC News & Current Affairs/Getty

Jeff Overs/BBC News & Current Affairs/Getty

One of the survivors, who was named only as Natacha, said on Friday, Sept. 20 that she finally had “the opportunity and freedom to speak up” and was also doing so for those who were “silenced and suffered at the hand of the predator Mohamed Al-Fayed.” Many of the other women were also in the room.

Lawyer Gloria Allred at the press conference in London on Sept. 20, 2024.Yui Mok/PA Images via Getty

“I was just 19 years old. Young, naive, and totally innocent,” she explained about the moment she got an interview for a role working for Al-Fayed. She was excited and could “not believe how lucky she was,” she added.

She said he “was clever and highly manipulative. He behaved like a father figure.” He would ask seemingly kind questions and offered her money for gifts and new work clothes.

“Unbeknownst to me, I had walked into a lion’s den,” she added. “A layer of cover ups, deceit, lies, manipulation, humiliation and gross sexual misconduct. The chairman preyed on the most vulnerable.”

She was subjected to “an unnecessary and intrusive” medical examinations and never given the results. “In hindsight, I was being checked for purity,” she added.

Natacha told the press conference that private meetings often “turned into more.”

“A forced kiss, his hands gripping your face to his lips, or pulling you down on his lap where his hands were free to explore any part of your body that he wished.”

One of Al Fayed’s accusers, Natacha, spoke at the press conference on Sept. 20, 2024.Yui Mok/PA Images via Getty

“These incidents lasted seconds but the fear instilled left me paralyzed,” she said.

One night she said was asked to stay late and Al-Fayed “summoned me up to his private apartment” for a work meeting. The door was locked behind her and she was handed champagne, “There were sex toys on view. I felt petrified,” she said.

She sat at the very end of the sofa. “My boss, the person I worked for, pushed himself on me,” Natacha said.

“I managed to kick free and free myself. I ran towards the door. I told him I was meeting my father for dinner, that he would be worried that I was late. He just laughed at me. He composed himself and told me in no uncertain terms that I was never to breathe a word of this to anyone.”

“If I did I would never work in London again and he knew where my family lived. I felt scared and sick,” she added.

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One of the lawyers on the team is leading women’s rights lawyer Gloria Allred. “I am very familiar with how powerful men use their wealth, positions and power and fame to subject women and girls to sexual abuse,” she said on Friday, Sept. 20.

She added that many women “dreamed” of working at Harrods but “underneath [it’s] glitz and glamour was a toxic, unsafe and abusive environment.”

“We say something was rotten at the core of Harrods,” she continued, before adding that the women who have come forward are “role models in courage. They know what happened. This is a teaching moment for Harrods, a teaching moment for corporations.”

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go torainn.org.

source: people.com