Bella Hadid allegedly sexually harassed by Victoria's Secret executive

Every year, the situation around Victoria's Secret executive Ed Razek just gets messier.

One article from The New York Times published last weekend alleged that model Bella Hadid was among those who was sexually harassed by Ed during a fitting ahead of a Victoria's Secret Show.

Ed, who is said to be instrumental as choosing the models who will walk the show - also known as Victoria's Secret Angels - had made inappropriate comments to some models during the fitting.

The New York Times reported that three people, who were present during a 2018 fitting, had watched Bella being measured for underwear.

"Forget the panties," he was quoted to say.

"The bigger question, he said, was whether the TV network would let Ms. Hadid walk 'down the runway with those perfect titties.' (One witness remembered Mr. Razek using the word 'breasts,' not 'titties.')" The New York Times wrote.

Ed allegedly put his hand on another model's underwear-clad crotch at the same fitting.

The executive, who was the Chief Marketing Officer (Brand & Creative Services) at Limited Brands, the parent company of Victoria's Secret, had also made controversial remarks about the lack of diversity on the runway.

He had told Vogue in an interview, "'Shouldn't you have transsexuals in the show?' No. No, I don't think we should. Well, why not? Because the show is a fantasy. It's a 42-minute entertainment special."

He added, "We market to who we sell to, and we don't market to the whole world. We attempted to do a television special for plus-sizes [in 2000]. No one had any interest in it, still don't."

He later apologised for his words, and in August, the company announced that Ed would be leaving the company to retire. The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show was confirmed to be cancelled last year.

Victims of sexual harassment and assault can call the Sexual Assault Care Centre on 6779-0282 (Mondays to Fridays, 10am to midnight) or find information at www.sacc.sg.

This article was first published in CLEO Singapore.