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Another beauty founder has been embroiled in the aftermath of Jeffrey Epstein’s decades-long abuses. Frédéric Fekkai, the hairstylist, salon owner, brand founder and executive, is being sued for damages under the Gender-Motivated Violence Act, a New York City-specific statute that permits survivors to file civil suits against both perpetrators and those who enabled them.
The lawsuit, published by CourthouseNews, was brought forth by Kersti Ferguson, Audra Christiansen, and five additional anonymous survivors. Summons to the suit’s defendants, which are Fekkai, business entity Frédéric Fekkai & Co, L.L.C., and Fekkai associate Patrick Coombs, went out Tuesday—just a day after Republican congressman Thomas Massie described Fekkai as an Epstein “co-conspirator” who warranted investigation and prosecution.
The suit alleges that the defendants “enabled Epstein’s acts of gender-motivated violence” by “acting as the fundamental ‘perks machine’ on behalf of Epstein; furnishing Epstein with a salon to manipulate, control and coerce Plaintiffs; providing Epstein with a business location for operating the sex trafficking ring that permitted him to commit acts of gender-motivated violence against Plaintiffs.” One of Fekkai’s salons was in the Henri Bendel department store in New York City, which was owned by known Epstein associate Les Wexner until 2019.
“Epstein used Fekkai, his employees and his entities to intimidate and control over his victims,” the complaint reads. “Fekkai played a pivotal role in Epstein’s grooming schemes by routinely providing salon services to women at Epstein’s instruction,” it continues, describing that “Epstein would direct Fekkai to bleach victims blond and groomed them like dolls into Epstein’s and other’s liking.” The complaint references “3,118 documents and emails related to Fekkai’s salon which was the epicenter for victim grooming.”
“These allegations are false. Mr. Fekkai has done nothing wrong,” Mark Herr, Fekkai’s spokesperson, says to Allure. “He has no idea whether any Epstein victim was among the tens of thousands of people whose hair was cut every year by the hundreds of Fekkai salon employees.”
It’s not the first time a beauty founder has been caught in the crosshairs of an Epstein-related investigation. Earlier this year, Peter Thomas Roth faced many a call for boycotts after the first tranches of released files showed his relationship with Epstein and accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell. Nothing in the files alleged that Roth partook in criminal conduct, although they did detail Roth educating various girls at Epstein’s house in skin-care products and routines, and sending Epstein 13 bags of PTR products. At the time, Roth said Epstein was a teacher of his at the Dalton School in New York City in the ’70s. They had stayed in touch in the decades that followed, and Roth said he was “horrified by the crimes he committed and the lasting impact they have had on his victims, and I deeply regret maintaining any association with him after leaving the Dalton School.”
That wasn’t enough to stop the calls for a boycott of the brand. Whether or not that will happen with Fekkai’s eponymous hair range or the salon he still operates in New York City, remains to be seen. Fekkai’s myriad mentions in the Epstein files didn’t imply any criminal behavior and he has not been formally charged with any crime, although the lawsuit against him does accuse him of enabling it. However, his former assistant, Sarah Kellen, testified in May before the House Oversight Committee that Fekkai, alongside fashion photographer Patrick Demarchelier, sexually abused her. That testimony was a part of the committee’s review of the government’s handling of the Epstein cases. Fekkai refuted the claims at the time via Herr, who told WWD, “Mr. Fekkai never abused anyone. He never participated in any illegal behavior. He knew nothing about Epstein’s repugnant depravity or trafficking. He did nothing wrong.”
Legal representation for the plaintiffs did not respond to Allure’s request for comment Thursday.
