I like nothing more than to start off my day with a cup of coffee and the news of a well-known misogynist being ousted from his retail-throne, so this morning’s news was especially exciting for m American Apparel’s Dov Charney has been unceremoniously booted from the company he started due to misconduct – finally!
Charney long been known for his grody sexual deviancy, revealed by a 2004 Jane article written by Claudine Ko (which totally explains why many of the revealing ads are constantly referred to as “softcore porn”.) Rumors of his abusive and inappropriate behavior towards employees and models began in the mid-2000s, with many of the allegations and lawsuits quietly swept under the rug with the help of his multimillion dollar company.
One of the more recent cases filed against him in 2011 met the same treatment; Kimbra Lo, who was 19 at the time, received sexually aggressive messages from Charney and was then sexually assaulted by him in his home. Some of her friends also filed lawsuits, which American Apparel labelled as scams and “shakedowns” due to “evidence” proving Lo to be lying. Another suit rendered null and void, allowing Charney to continue his misogynist antics. But not anymore!
As of yesterday, the American Apparel board has officially fired Charney as President, CEO, and Chairman of the company. Allan Meyer, the co-chair of the board, noted that the decision to fire Charney was “not the result of any problems with the company’s operations” and that an investigation took place after “new information came to light”. Though the company (and board) has been acting as Charney’s shield for some time now, it’s nice to know they’ve seen the light and dropped the dead weight.
So happy Thursday everyone! Let’s look forward to more justice being served to similarly bespectacled and bearded creeps (looking at you, Terry Richardson) and less photos of Charney-junk we never wanted to see in the first place.
Images via DovCharney.com, AmericanApparel.net, businessinsider.com
