The Troubling Story Behind Hulu’s New Documentary Victoria’s Secret: Angels and Demons<\/i><\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n
H ulu\u2019s three-part documentary series Victoria\u2019s Secret: Angels and Demons<\/i> looks at the rise and fall of the legendary lingerie brand and its former billionaire CEO, Leslie Wexner. The sprawling docuseries, streaming now, delves in particular into Wexner\u2019s relationship with wealthy financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
While Epstein\u2019s ties to former presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, as well as Prince Andrew and Bill Gates, have been well publicized, his connection with Wexner flew under the radar until Epstein\u2019s 2019 arrest on sex trafficking and conspiracy charges. (Epstein died by suicide that same year while awaiting trial.) For nearly two decades, Epstein was Wexner\u2019s personal money manager, but few people understood just how close the two were. (Wexner broke ties with Epstein in 2007 following the financial advisor\u2019s arrest for soliciting a minor for prostition a year prior. In 2008, Epstein pleaded guilty and was given a much criticized lenient plea deal.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Victoria\u2019s Secret: Angels and Demons<\/i> looks to examine what relationship Wexner and his fortune may have played in Epstein\u2019s alleged sex trafficking network. But without new insight from Wexner, who turned down multiple interview requests from filmmakers, viewers are left with many unanswered questions. Chief among them: why did Wexner continue to do business with Epstein despite his many red flags?<\/p>\n\n\n\n\nWho is Les Wexner?<\/b><\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n
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The Ohio-born Leslie \u201cLes\u201d Wexner is the billionaire founder of L Brands Inc., the one-time parent company of The Limited, Bath and Body Works, Abercrombie and Fitch, and Victoria\u2019s Secret, the crown jewel of his retail holdings. Wexner bought the lingerie brand in 1982 from its founder Roy Raymond for just $1 million, turning it into a billion-dollar company within the span of a decade. In Victoria\u2019s Secret: Angels and Demons,<\/i> Wexner is described as a \u201cgenius\u201d whose corporate shrewdness and foresight helped him dominate the malls of America. His megalomaniacal focus on retail dominance led him to become the inventor of fast fashion. \u201cHe\u2019s the guy who figured out how to make Americans shop, shop, shop, shop, shop,\u201d Teri Agins, the author of 1999\u2019s The End of Fashion,<\/i> says in the docuseries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
While Victoria\u2019s Secret boasted revenues of $8.1 billion in 2018, the company that was once the mainstream standard bearer of what is sexy struggled to stay relevant in the age of social media and #MeToo. In 2020, after nearly 60 years, Wexner retired as CEO and Chairman of L Brands. (The following year, he left the board of L Brands, breaking all ties with the company he founded in 1963.) With a net worth of $5.8 billion, Wexner is still the richest man in Ohio, but his legacy has been deeply damaged, possibly irrevocably, by his close ties with the late Jeffrey Epstein.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
How did Les Wexner meet Jeffrey Epstein?<\/b> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n
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Epstein and Wexner were reportedly introduced in the mid- to late-\u201980s by a mutual friend, insurance executive Robert Meister. The two became fast allies. In 2003, Epstein told Vanity Fair<\/i> that he shared a special bond with Wexner: \u201cPeople have said it\u2019s like we have one brain between two of us: each has a side.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
In Victoria\u2019s Secret: Angels and Demons<\/i>, Michael Gross, the author of 1995\u2019s Model<\/i>, explains that Epstein had a reputation for \u201cworming his way into the lives of older successful Jewish men\u201d ever since his five-year stint working at investment firm Bear Stearns. (Epstein left the company in 1981 for undisclosed reasons, one year after making partner.) A former business partner of Epstein\u2019s said he was \u201cextraordinarily mesmerizing\u201d and \u201ccould convince anything of anybody.\u201d This might explain how the former prep school math teacher-turned-private investment advisor landed Wexner as his financial firm\u2019s biggest client despite his lack of experience. (Epstein claimed that he worked with many wealthy people, but Wexner remains his only known client.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Epstein was named the billionaire\u2019s power of attorney in 1991, which gave Epstein \u201cunmitigated control over all of [Wexner\u2019s] assets,\u201d according to Washington Post<\/i> reporter Sarah Ellison. He could sign checks, buy and sell property, and borrow money on Wexner\u2019s behalf. \u201cThere wasn\u2019t a part of Wexner\u2019s empire that Epstein didn\u2019t have access to and didn\u2019t have some ability to control,\u201d Ellison says in the docuseries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\nWhy would Les Wexner give Jeffrey Epstein so much control over his life?<\/b><\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s the billion-dollar question that no one\u2014including journalists, former employees, and close friends of Wexner\u2014have been able to answer. Wexner has claimed that giving Epstein power of attorney was strictly a business decision, but Victoria\u2019s Secret: Angels and Demons<\/i> shows that Epstein was just as involved in Wexner\u2019s personal life. He played MC at the billionaire\u2019s 59th birthday party and encouraged Wexner to break ties with anyone he didn\u2019t like. That included Wexner\u2019s mother, Bella, whom Wexner\u2019s foundation sued in order to keep her from taking Epstein\u2019s place on the board of his charity, according to the docuseries. \u201cIf my client needs protecting\u2014sometimes even from his own family\u2014then it\u2019s often better that people hate me, not the client,\u201d Epstein once said, according to Vanity Fair<\/i>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Epstein\u2019s complete control over Wexner\u2019s finances has led some to question whether the two were romantically involved, but both men have denied rumors that they ever engaged in a romantic or sexual relationship. (Wexner married lawyer Abigail Koppel in 1993.) In the docuseries, Cindy Fedus-Fields, the former CEO of Victoria\u2019s Secret Direct, said that she believes the two men\u2019s friendship was purely transactional\u2014at least, at first. \u201cWexner had the money that Epstein was seeking,\u201d she says in the docuseries. \u201cAnd Wexner got from Epstein the glamour and smoothness that he was seeking.\u201d Yet to many the benefits of their friendship appear to be rather one-sided. Wexner remained an outsider in New York City society despite the promise of Epstein\u2019s help while Epstein became rich and powerful thanks to his connection to Wexner and Victoria\u2019s Secret.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Did Jeffrey Epstein use Victoria\u2019s Secret to take advantage of young women?<\/b> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n
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Epstein never officially worked for Victoria\u2019s Secret, according to a company spokesperson, who told the New York Times<\/i> in 2019 that \u201cwhile Mr. Epstein served as Mr. Wexner\u2019s personal money manager for a period that ended nearly 12 years ago, we do not believe he was ever employed by nor served as an authorized representative of the company.\u201d That didn\u2019t stop Epstein from posing as a talent scout for the lingerie brand during the decades in which he worked for Wexner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
In Victoria\u2019s Secret: Angels and Demons<\/i>, Fedus-Fields says that, in 1993, she had been informed by a fellow female executive that Epstein had been portraying himself as a talent recruiter for Victoria\u2019s Secret. After the exec called Wexler directly, she was told that he would \u201cput a stop to it.\u201d (In a statement included in the series, Wexner\u2019s attorney wrote that his client \u201cconfronted Epstein\u201d in 1993 over the allegation that he had been posing as a recruiter and \u201cEpstein denied having done so.\u201d)<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
But in 1997, model Alice Arden filed a police report against Epstein, who she claimed had invited her to his hotel in Santa Monica, Calif., under the guise that he worked for Victoria\u2019s Secret. In the police report, the then-27-year-old accused Epstein of grabbing her backside, attempting to undress her, and telling her he wanted to \u201cmanhandle\u201d her. Epstein long denied Arden\u2019s allegations. In the doc, Wexner in a statement from his attorney \u201cdenied that he had any knowledge of Epstein\u2019s sexual misconduct while under his employ\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Still, many former employees and journalists have drawn a direct line from these early allegations of Epstein posing as a Victoria\u2019s Secret talent scout to the 2019 allegations that, between 2002 and 2005, he paid girls as young as 14 for sex and used them to recruit other young girls. In the docuseries, anti-trafficking advocate Conchita Sarnoff makes the case that Epstein was able to \u201clegally bring girls from all over the world into the United States under the guise of modeling\u201d thanks to his position as Wexner\u2019s financial advisor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Has Les Wexner been implicated in Jeffrey Epstein\u2019s alleged crimes?<\/b> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n
Wexner has not been implicated as a co-conspirator in any crimes allegedly committed by Epstein. However, after Ghislaine Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison for helping Epstein sexually abuse underage girls, some are calling for more scrutiny of Epstein\u2019s other associates including Wexner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Victoria\u2019s Secret: Angels and Demons<\/i> casts Wexner as the source of Epstein\u2019s wealth, which allowed him to allegedly take advantage of young, often underage girls. The $20 million New York City townhouse that Wexner sold to Epstein is cited in reports as a location used for his alleged abuse. Painter Maria Farmer claimed that she was sexually assaulted by Epstein in 1996 while working on an art project at Wexner\u2019s sprawling Ohio estate where Epstein also lived. A plane previously owned by The Limited, which Epstein reportedly bought from the company for a reduced price, is also referenced in claims made by the financier\u2019s alleged victims. The plane is often referred to in the media as the \u201cLolita Express\u201d because Epstein allegedly used it to traffic young women to his homes around the globe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Following Epstein\u2019s arrest in 2019, Wexner reportedly sent a letter to L Brands employees stating that he was \u201cNEVER aware of the illegal activity charged in the indictment\u201d and \u201cwould never have guessed that a person I employed more than a decade ago could have caused such pain to so many people.\u201d That same year, he revealed that he had also been a victim of Epstein, who he claimed stole more than $46 million dollars from him. Wexner never pressed charges against Epstein for the misappropriation of funds, which struck Washington Post<\/i> reporter Sarah Ellison as odd given that the billionaire was known for being litigious. \u201cTo allow that level of betrayal and dishonesty to happen unpunished is entirely unexplained,\u201d she says in the doc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\nDid Les Wexner\u2019s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein lead to Victoria\u2019s Secret\u2019s downfall?<\/b> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n
Victoria\u2019s Secret: Angels and Demons<\/i> makes the case that Victoria\u2019s Secret\u2019s fall from grace was due to a myriad of factors, including Wexner\u2019s inability to rethink the brand\u2019s image amid the #MeToo movement. But the scrutiny over his ties to Epstein was what ultimately led to his decision to retire as CEO of L Brands, Inc. The three-part documentary paints a damning portrait of Wexner as a CEO who put profits before people, turning a blind eye to allegations of sexual harassment or assault at his company\u2014and not just related to Epstein.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Following model Alice Arden\u2019s 1997 allegation that Epstein pretended to be a Victoria\u2019s Secret recruiter, Wexner continued to support Epstein publicly, telling Vanity Fair<\/i> in 2003 that the financier was \u201cvery smart with a combination of excellent judgment and unusually high standards. Also, he is always the most loyal friend.\u201d But beyond the morass surrounding Epstein, Wexner also appears to have ignored sexual miscoduct allegations against Victoria\u2019s Secret\u2019s former longtime chief marketing officer, Ed Razek, who resigned in 2019 following a disastrous Vogue<\/i> interview in which he made inflammatory statements about transgender models. In 2020, the New York Times<\/i> published an expos\u00e9 on \u201cthe culture of misogyny\u201d at Victoria\u2019s Secret, which painted a picture of Razek\u2019s allegedly rampant sexual misconduct. Former executives claimed they had told Wexner about Razek\u2019s alleged behavior, which reportedly included trying to kiss models and asking them to sit on his lap, but nothing was done. (Razek denied the allegations in an email to the Times<\/i>, and said in a statement to the Angels and Demons<\/i> filmmakers that he would \u201cnot dignify these insane allegations with a response.\u201d)<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
The documentary details a culture of complicity at Victoria\u2019s Secret, which allowed Epstein to hide in plain sight with Wexner\u2019s help, whether the latter knew it or not. For years, Wexner managed to keep his relationship with Epstein hidden from public view, but now people are looking for answers. Unfortunately, Wexner isn\u2019t talking. \u201cIt begs the question, Why?<\/i>\u201d journalist Sarah Ellison asks in the documentary. \u201cThere are questions that he would do well to answer that he has avoided entirely. All the work he put into building this fortune and this business and these brands, there\u2019s a cloud over all of it now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n Contact us<\/strong> at letters@time.com.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n Email icon An envelope. It indicates the ability to send an email.<\/p>\n\n\nTwitter icon A stylized bird with an open mouth, tweeting.\n\n\n Twitter LinkedIn icon The word “in”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n LinkedIn Fliboard icon A stylized letter F.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n Flipboard Facebook Icon The letter F.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n Facebook Email icon An envelope. It indicates the ability to send an email.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n Email Link icon An image of a chain link. It symobilizes a website link url.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n Its CEO Martin Waters said that the Angels were no longer “culturally relevant” and would not be a part of the brand as it undergoes a major turnaround effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n This includes actress and entrepreneur Priyanka Chopra Jonas and soccer player and gender-equality activist Megan Rapinoe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n Models Helena Christensen, Karen Mulder, Daniela Pe\u0161tov\u00e1, Stephanie Seymour, and Tyra Banks were the first Angels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n The name was coined in 1997 after they appeared in an ad to promote Victoria’s Secret’s “Angels” underwear collection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n Since the late 1990s, these Angels have become one of the most well-known parts of the brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n Through their contracts with Victoria’s Secret, they were required to be featured in campaigns, talk shows, and runway events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n But reports indicate that being an Angel requires a big commitment of time and responsibility.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n “Becoming an Angel means you are officially part of the family of Victoria’s Secret,” Elsa Hosk said in an All-Access video back in 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n “You are a spokesperson for the whole brand, and that is such a cool thing because it’s one of the biggest, most amazing brands in the world,” she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n Although it is unclear how much angels are paid year on year, many were among some of the world’s highest-paid models. As previously reported by Insider, 11 of the 17 women on Forbes’ list for The Highest Paid Models 2016 have been Victoria’s Secret Angels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n World-famous models including Gisele B\u00fcndchen and Adriana Lima, who hold a superior status with the brand, have finished years with multi-million-dollar salaries, per Insider. In 2018, B\u00fcndchen earned $30.5 million and Lima $10.5 million, but other Angels, including Taylor Hill and Jasmine Tookes took home $4 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n As previously reported by Insider, Doutzen Kroes and Karlie Kloss both pulled out of contracts early to focus on other commitments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n Sources highlighted to Page Six that relatively little pay over time was also a factor in Angels’ decision to depart. “Older contracts like Alessandra Ambrosio used to be in the millions, now they’re like $100,000,” a source told the outlet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n Banks was the first black model to become an Angel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n In 1999, its annual fashion show aired for the first time online and was described as the internet-breaking moment of that time after 1.5 million people tried to tune in and crashed the site.<\/p>\n\n\n]]><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":0,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sesglobal.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sesglobal.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sesglobal.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sesglobal.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sesglobal.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=507"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sesglobal.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/507\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sesglobal.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sesglobal.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sesglobal.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n \n\n
Victoria’s Secret ditched its Angels after a successful decades-long partnership. Take a closer look at how the concept was born \u2014 and why the lingerie chain thinks Angels are no longer relevant.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n
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This month, after nearly two decades, Victoria’s Secret confirmed that it is ending its Angels brand.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n
Instead, it has taken on a group of seven new spokeswomen \u2014 a mix of activists and entrepreneurs to promote its new image.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n
So how did the concept of an Angel first come about and why is it being abandoned?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n
From then on, the Angels became an elite group of models that were carefully selected to become the face and voice of the brand.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n
Though there have been hundreds of Victoria’s Secret models over the years, many of which have walked its runway show, not all have made it to the elite status of an Angel.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n
Victoria’s Secret was previously vague about how their contracts worked and what they are actually expected to do.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n
Angels get to go home with multi-million dollar pay cheques.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n
But the level of commitment has meant that Victoria’s Secret has lost Angels in the past.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n
There have been 41 Angels in total since 1997 when Christensen, Mulder, Pe\u0161tov\u00e1, Seymour, and Banks were first taken on.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n
Over the years, these women became a defining part of its increasingly elaborate runway shows and risque brand image.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n