Gransnet forums

TV, radio, film, Arts

Mohammed Al Fayed.

(350 Posts)
Calendargirl Fri 20-Sept-24 13:01:47

Didn’t know whether to post this under TV or News.

Anyone else watch the documentary last night about Al Fayed’s abuse of young, female member of Harrods staff?

He just seemed to pick young, attractive new members of staff, have them moved into PA jobs working for him, and subsequently use them for his own sexual gratification.

It seemed to be an open secret, and nothing was ever done about it.

Mmc123uk Mon 23-Sept-24 14:56:10

Appalling times, I suspect a lot of us were groped in our first jobs. 80's had great music but not much equal opportunities. It still happens but I think young women, thankfully, are more empowered now.

cc Mon 23-Sept-24 14:59:26

Allira

What a sexually incontinent monster.
His crimes were well-known and covered up.

The football club he owned said it was known what he was like and that they put in extra precautions to protect the women's team from Al Fayed; no women were allowed to be left alone with him.

Yes this is true, my daughter is a long-term Fulham fan and she and her friend sometimes worked there on Saturdays. Precautions were always put in place to protect the women's team.

MissAdventure Mon 23-Sept-24 14:59:57

This kind of thing happens to grown women, though.

As I said, my neighbour thought the council worker was a sleaze ball, and he made her feel uncomfortable, but she didn't kick him out, or report him, or ask him to leave.

She only put two and two together when my girl told her what he had been saying to her.

silverlining48 Mon 23-Sept-24 15:00:01

Definitely much less likely for men to get away with this sort of thing these days, thank goodness.

MissAdventure Mon 23-Sept-24 15:01:25

Yes, and that's because of metoo type publicity.

MissInterpreted Mon 23-Sept-24 15:31:44

Aveline

I don't disbelieve these women and am sure that Fayed was rich and predatory. However, what did these girls think was going to happen? That he just liked them? I'm sure he went for very naive girls as surely anyone with a bit about them would have had nothing to do with him. Plenty of other jobs for young women in those days.

Predators always know the type of person to pick on. That doesn't mean those girls/women deserve to be treated in that way.

Minerva Mon 23-Sept-24 15:39:36

Message deleted by Gransnet. Here's a link to our Talk guidelines.

welbeck Mon 23-Sept-24 15:55:39

maybe it's kind of defence mechanism;
i wouldn't/would do x, so y wouldn't happen to me.
it can be seen as ignorance, literally, and/or self-delusion.
i have heard some older women confidently state that such experiences are v rare, because they've never known anyone it's happened to.
i suggest maybe people to whom it's happened would not choose to confide in them.
for some reason .

Norah Mon 23-Sept-24 16:10:37

This thread has so much past century "Sl*t Shaming* -- somehow that is something I had hoped we were well beyond.

Oreo Mon 23-Sept-24 16:44:46

welbeck I have never heard anyone say that such experiences are v rare, just the opposite in fact.For older women it would be surprising if they hadn’t experienced some form of sexual assault or verbal equivalent at some point in their younger lives.

Oreo Mon 23-Sept-24 16:50:28

Minerva Being Jewish I know that no Jewish couples, especially those from Israel would never say that fellow Jews in Poland ‘deserved to be exterminated’.
Quite what you are doing putting a story like that on here, I simply can’t imagine.

eazybee Mon 23-Sept-24 18:01:45

I worked in a mainly female environment for my first few years, but in holiday jobs in large offices peopled by men I noticed it was the older women who 'policed' them, as in : don't ever get in a lift with him on your own; what are you doing lurking round here Bill, your desk's over there, and very pointedly, How's you wife, Geoff?
No one ever preyed on me when I worked in Selfridges, but then Mr. Selfridge had long gone.

MissAdventure Mon 23-Sept-24 18:11:35

smile
I'd love to have seen those womens tactics.

Babs03 Mon 23-Sept-24 18:16:44

Oreo

Minerva Being Jewish I know that no Jewish couples, especially those from Israel would never say that fellow Jews in Poland ‘deserved to be exterminated’.
Quite what you are doing putting a story like that on here, I simply can’t imagine.

Sorry you saw that. I didn’t but from what you have said can understand it was offensive.
Everyone can voice their opinion but they need to be mindful of others.

hazelnuts Mon 23-Sept-24 18:22:31

They did complain. The Crown Prosecution Service on several occasions when the case was presented to them refused to prosecute saying there was insufficient evidence to proceed with the cases.
Guess who was in charge of the Crown Prosecution Service at the time ----same one who refused to prosecute Jimmy Saville so both were allowed to continue their evil ways with the blessings of __-

Oreo Mon 23-Sept-24 18:26:27

Thanks Babs03 so true, they need to be mindful of the 3 million Polish Jews who died in the camps and for those who managed to survive and their families.Plus that particular post had no business on this thread.

hazelnuts Mon 23-Sept-24 18:26:46

Many of his victims were Raped they never gave consent were they Naive

J52 Mon 23-Sept-24 18:40:32

“he would have a wallet full of £50 notes and would dish them out willy nilly, we had members of staff who fit the profile he supposedly preferred and not once was there anything like this ever even hinted at.” GanofH

Some might see this as buying people’s silence.

J52 Mon 23-Sept-24 18:41:42

GranofH

Aveline Mon 23-Sept-24 18:58:32

They were naive if they went to hotel bedrooms with him.

MissAdventure Mon 23-Sept-24 19:06:09

Yes, extremely.
Naivety isn't a crime, though.

MissInterpreted Mon 23-Sept-24 19:08:37

No, it's not. Rape and sexual assault most definitely are though.

Maremia Mon 23-Sept-24 19:16:04

Does anyonw who has actually read all of the article posted by Tanjamaltiya (thanks) still think it would have been easy for those women to walk away and complain about Fayed?

AJKW Mon 23-Sept-24 19:45:57

Men in high places have always done whatever they want. This problem isn’t new. Think about the young women who were in service and abused by the man of the household. It happened more than we’d care to think.
I also wonder if these type of men are enablers for well known establishment figures, consequently we only hear of their abuse after they’ve died and can no long speak.

AJKW Mon 23-Sept-24 19:48:08

Hazelnuts,
Because of this I wonder what Keir Starlin gets up to in his spare time.
He turned a blind eye, why, I wonder.