DOUCHE OF THE WEEK

Creepy Abercrombie CEO Made Male Models Squirm On Company Jet

Each week Queerty picks one blowhard, hypocrite, airhead, sanctimonious prick or other enemy of all that is queer to be the Douche of the Week.

Have a nominee for DOTW? E-mail it to us at [email protected].

Michael Jeffries, the oddly “youthful” CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch, is in hot water for how he treated his male employees on the company jet.  The four models who serviced the boss on the A&F Gulfstream G550 jet had to be clean-shaven and wearing Abercrombie polos, jeans, boxer briefs and flip-flops, according to a company manual made public in an age-discrimination lawsuit filed by pilot Michael Bustin.
A cornucopia of regulations was enforced to suit the tastes of Jeffries and Matthew Smith, 36, referred to as Jeffries’ “life partner” in documents. Black gloves had to be worn to handle silverware (but white ones for setting the table) and special seating arrangements were made for Jeffries’s three dogs—Ruby, Trouble and Sammy. “When Ruby and Trouble travel, Ruby will sit opposite Michael in the cabin, in Sammy’s seat,” the manual stated. “When Sammy travels, Ruby will sit in Trouble’s seat.”

According to Bloomberg News, 0ther highlights from the “Aircraft Standards” manual include:

  • The models or actors who work as cabin attendants must never respond to Jeffries and Smith with anything other than “no problem.”
  • Hats are banned unless it dips below 40 degrees, in which case, brims must be two-inches thick and pulled down to the middle of the forehead.
  • When’s 50 degrees or below, crew members are required to wear winter coats zipped up to the forth button from the bottom. “The lowest button should be left undone.”
  • Male staff should regularly spritz their uniforms with Abercrombie & Fitch cologne and, before guests go to sleep, crew should spray the bedding with sleep spray.
  • Crew can eat meals only on flights lasting longer than two hours, and only food that is not “aromatic.
  • Eight washcloths (exactly eight) must be “tri-folded” and placed behind the vanity in the washroom. Toilet paper must be pre-torn into squares.

Jeffries rescued Abercrombie from obscurity twenty years ago, turning it into a household brand that used male sexuality to shock parents and titillate teens. But recently the 68-year-old exec has come under fire as the company’s profits have slumped.

In 2010, Jeffries had to give up unlimited access to the jet, though its not clear if that was related to any Mommy Dearest-type diva trips.

But, hey, we shouldn’t be surprised Jeffries is surrounding himself with hot manflesh—he’s just doing market research! “We hire good-looking people in our stores because good-looking people attract other good-looking people,” he once said. “And we want to market to cool, good-looking people. We don’t market to anyone other than that.”

All together now: What a douche!

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