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BOMBSHELL allegations surrounding Mohamed Al Fayed gripped the nation this week as the former Harrods boss was accused of being a “serial rapist”.
The Egyptian billionaire, who died last year, is facing accusations he raped and sexually assaulted more than 20 female employees.
The women, who worked at Harrods from the late 1980s to 2000s, claim assaults were carried out at the company’s offices, in Fayed’s London apartment, or on foreign trips often in Paris at the Ritz hotel.
The new documentary – called Al Fayed: Predator at Harrods – hears claims that the store not only failed to intervene but also helped cover up allegations against Al Fayed.
Here we take a look at the seven biggest bombshells….
Royal warning
The late Queen was warned Mohamed Al Fayed was a “dirty old man” with a reputation as a “salacious attacker of women”, a former royal protection head has claimed.
Her Majesty was reportedly told about Al Fayed by Scotland Yard’s Dai Davies, before the majority of his allegations surfaced this week.
Davies said he had warned Queen Elizabeth about Mr Al Fayed’s reputation in the 1990s, due to his association with the late Princess Diana.
He told the Daily Mail: “He had a salacious reputation. There were concerns about his persona as a dirty old man.
“There were allegations I was aware of that Al Fayed had sexually assaulted women then paid them off. I had no compunction in warning the Queen about this individual.
“I advised the Queen, through Lord Fellowes [her private secretary], not to let the boys [Prince William and Prince Harry] go away on holiday with him because of the allegations I was aware of – that he was a salacious attacker of women.
“[Fellowes] said to me: ‘The Palace is aware, Mr Davies.’”
Cops ‘wiped evidence’
More than 20 former workers have accused Al Fayed, whose son Dodi was killed in a car crash alongside girlfriend Princess Diana, of sex abuse.
The new BBC documentary claims Al Fayed deployed an army of aides to silence his alleged victims and used his power and wealth to evade justice.
He allegedly deployed Harrods staff, a former senior Met Police officer, lawyers and PR agents to threaten his victims who he spied on using hidden cameras and bugging equipment.
One woman named Ellie was 15 when she told police in 2008 Al Fayed groped and tried to kiss her in Harrods.
She claims the case was dropped after details were leaked by the Met Police who allegedly wiped evidence from her phone.
Al Fayed allegedly used head of security John Macnamara to threaten women who made sex claims.
The former Met Police chief superintendent was described as a “nasty piece of work” by an ex-Harrods colleague who said “He would use his power as an ex-copper. I know Macnamara knocked on someone’s door and threatened a girl.”
It is understood three women came forward to the Met in 2018, 2021 and 2023, but the CPS was never asked to consider charges.
Paris ‘sex abuse’ mansion
Al Fayed has also been accused of using a royal mansion featured in The Crown to rape and sexually assault victims.
Multiple women have even claimed that the billionaire raped or sexually assaulted them at “Villa Windsor” in Paris’s Bois de Boulogne.
The lavish 14-room mansion was the home of post-abdication King Edward VIII and his wife Wallis Simpson and recently featured on The Crown’s third season.
One woman named Gemma – who worked as one of his personal assistants between 2007 and 2009 – has claimed Al Fayed raped her at the historic Parisian villa.
Gemma described waking up to find him attempting to get into bed with her, adding: “I told him, ‘No, I don’t want you to'”.
She added: “I was kind of face down on the bed and he just pressed himself on me.”
Speaking to the BBC, Sophia, who worked as his personal assistant from 1988 to 1991, said “vile” Al Fayed tried to rape her more than once with one of those attempts taking place at the Villa Windsor.
‘Forced’ health checks
Al Fayed also allegedly forced staff to take sexual health tests before he sexually assaulted them.
Women recruited in their teens and early twenties to work as personal assistants in Al Fayed’s private office claimed that they were required by Wendy Snell, Harrods’s corporate GP, to undertake medicals that included intimate examinations.
Former staff claimed that the medical checkups were advertised as “an extra perk of the job” and because Al Fayed’s son Dodi “had a low immune system”.
However, they later made the harrowing discovery that it was preparing them for sexual abuse by Al Fayed, who was obsessed with hygiene.
One woman claimed she had a smear test and a doctor checked her ovaries.
“My results were sent directly to the chairman so quickly that by the time I had got back to my desk, he knew the results,” she alleged.
Harrods ‘cover up’
The new BBC documentary heard claims that the store not only failed to intervene but also helped cover up allegations against the Egyptian billionaire.
Bruce Drummond, a barrister from a legal team representing a number of the women, said: “The spider’s web of corruption and abuse in this company was unbelievable and very dark.”
However, Harrods’ current owners said they were “utterly appalled” by the allegations, stressing the company today is “very different”.
A Harrods human resources manager between 1990 and 1994 said she was ordered by Al Fayed’s senior assistant to find attractive young sales assistants he had seen in the store and send them to his office.
Tony Leeming, a department manager, admitted: “It was well known and everyone knew about it and it was a joke.”
Of the 13 women the BBC spoke to, four say Al Fayed raped them, and all said they felt intimidated by a culture of fear at Harrods.
Over 100 victims
Mohamed Al Fayed’s alleged abuse of women “combined the worst of Jimmy Savile, Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein“, a lawyer has said.
But there are fears the total number of victims could exceed more than 100 as Dean Armstrong KC, representing the alleged victims, encouraged other potential victims to come forward today.
Speaking at a press conference, the lawyer described the former Harrods chairman as a “monster”.
Mr Drummond KC added: “This is one of the worst cases of corporate sexual exploitation that certainly I, and perhaps the world has ever seen.
“It was absolutely horrific and I can’t stress that word enough.”
Forced to wash with Dettol
Gemma, who worked for Al Fayed as a personal assistant between 2007 and 2009, recounted the scary moment Al Fayed allegedly raped her.
She said: “He proceeded to just keep trying to get in the bed, at which point he was kind of on top of me and [I] really couldn’t move anywhere.”
She says after the Harrods tycoon raped her she cried, while he got up and told her aggressively to wash herself with Dettol.
“Obviously he wanted me to erase any trace of him being anywhere near me,” she explains.
Another woman described being raped at the Mayfair address as a teenager, describing staff at Harrods as being treated as his “playthings”.
She said: “Mohamed Al Fayed was a monster, a sexual predator with no moral compass whatsoever.”
She added: “I think Mohamed Al Fayed is a rapist – he is a serial rapist.”
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‘Hell f****** no would I go back on MAFS,’ says Georges as he opens up on duty of care on E4 show
MARRIED At First Sight star Georges Berthonneau has opened up about the duty of care on the E4 show.
The sports rehabilitator, 30, who was matched with Peggy Lawrence on the last series, said he felt supported by the welfare team but admitted there were a few issues he raised with bosses.
Georges said would have considered returning to the E4 show for a second chance at finding love earlier this year – but upon reflection he told us: “Hell f****** no would I go back on MAFS.”
Speaking exclusively to The Sun, Georges said: “All I would say, the duty of care post show was great.
“I just feel that there were certain welfare officers trying to become producers – they were trying to help produce the show, that’s all I’ll say.”
When asked if he felt supported enough on the show, Georges said: “Mentally yes, I think we had a lot of support.
“I did say multiple times, if guys and girls had an argument, they’d be a lot more welfare officers with the women, which is fine.
“There was always an unequal divide. I’m sure they’ve addressed that because I was very clear with my feedback – it doesn’t have to be 50/50 split, it isn’t about numbers.
“But don’t just leave one welfare officer with the guy and eight with the girl.”
The TV star, who has since found love with a new partner, said he ruled out returning to the show but admitted it would have been a very different experience if he had given it another go.
“I originally said yes and now it would be hell f****** no. I wouldn’t do it again,” he told us at the MAFS launch event last week.
“I would have if you asked me six months ago, I would have said yes and I would have done it pretty much the same and I would have learnt from my mistakes and would have been even straighter talking.
“I would have said it exactly how it was and called everyone out for their BS, if I was the villain, I’d be the villain.”
The Sun have reached out to Channel 4 for comment.
Georges said he is happier than ever after meeting someone new away from the show.
“I am dating someone right now, It’s going really well and that’s all that matters,” he said.
It comes after the E4 show came under fire from a leading woman’s charity for casting a man who has been accused of abuse.
A groom named Alex Henry has been pelted with allegations after the broadcaster shared his promo reel online, with one user branding him a “dangerous individual”.
Women’s Aid have now condemned his involvement in a lengthy statement, saying the decision to feature him is both “disappointing and concerning”.
On the matter, Georges told us: “All I would say, there’s always two sides to the story – the truth and someone is lying.
“I’m sure if the individual was actually being genuine and not doing anything wrong, then there is no reason to get rid of them from the show.
“But only them will know the truth.”
He also added that he hopes this series will not have a show villain like previous series’, saying: “I saw the repercussions of certain people who were villainised when they weren’t really villains.
“There were other people way too protected and did things that I will not repeat because I’m not allowed to repeat and they should have been the villain but they were way too protected.”
Georges was matched with Peggy but the pair split shortly after the experiment ended, despite making it to final vows.
GROOM DRAMA
It comes after, a group of women have clubbed together to ask Channel 4 to reconsider airing scenes including the personal trainer from Birmingham.
They have created a petition, which currently has nearly 2000 signatures.
Despite acknowledging the claims, Channel 4 has confirmed Alex will remain in the edit.
In a statement, Women’s Aid wrote: “We are incredibly disappointed and concerned to hear that producers of Married at First Sight have taken the decision not to remove an alleged abuser from the latest series.
“Having seen the direct impact of abusive behaviours displayed on the show in previous years on survivors, we would have hoped that protection and tolerance levels for abuse would leave no room for perpetrators to be given a platform again, with their actions being televised as “entertainment”.
“Sadly, this decision demonstrates the lack of awareness that the production team still has when it comes to domestic abuse.
“At Women’s Aid we would urge the producers to reconsider how they approach this, for the sake of the contestants to whom they have a responsibility to protect; and to signal to survivors that the entertainment industry takes their experiences seriously.”
In response a spokesperson for Channel 4 said: “The welfare of our contributors is of paramount importance and, as such, we take all allegations of unacceptable behaviour seriously.
“We are aware of a single allegation against a Married at First Sight UK 2024 contributor and we have responded directly to those who came to us with that allegation.
“As part of our responsibility to safeguard our contributors, everyone taking part in MAFSUK undergoes a rigorous vetting process, involving a criminal record check and multiple psychological evaluations, before they can be cleared to take part.
“The DBS (criminal record) check carried out on the contributor raised in the allegation was returned clean. We cast contributors based on the information we are legally able to access and we continue to review this process to ensure checks are as thorough as legally possible.”
Watch the moment Towie’s Freddie drops shock BOMBSHELL relationship news on cast – leaving them speechless
THE romance between Joe Blackman and Junaid Ahmed, has stirred up trouble in TOWIE, coming so soon after Joe’s split from Harry Derbridge.
Now it seems it was Freddie Bentley who shared the news with the rest of the cast and their shock at the unlikely duo, is palpable.
In the latest episode, Freddie is holding court in a café, surrounded by friends, including, couples Ella Rae Wise and Dan Edgar with Jodie Wells and Diags, James Bennewith.
In the clip he reveals how he stumbled across the news.
He says: “I knew when Joe went round to Junaid’s last night, so I thought I’d check in and see how it went. I video-called Junaid and as he’s answered the call, they’re both snogging.”
The shocked reaction of the cast indicates that Joe and Junaid are a controversial coupling.
Last month The Sun revealed Harry and Joe had split a year after getting together.
The news left Towie fans blindsided as it came just weeks after Harry told how they’d discussed marriage.
Days later we told how Harry had found messages between Joe and Junaid that spelled the end of their relationship.
An insider said of the blossoming romance between Joe and Junaid: “Since then Joe and Junaid have been spending lots of time together.
“They been spotted on dates around Essex and staying at each others.”
Earlier this week, Joe and Junaid broke the news of their union to Harry, who appeared lost for words.
But viewers rushed to social media and took aim at Joe – branding him a “gaslighter”.
One wrote: “Sorry but Joe from #towie is an absolute narrcisist. Blames everything he possible can on Harry.”
Another said: “Harry is handling this so well but Joe is so gaslighty.”
And a third added: “Joe is such a manipulator.”
But having been on rocky ground for sometime. Hopefully Harry will accept in time that change is needed.
‘Disgusting’ incest storyline, sex toys named after wrestlers & vile rape claims… scandalous life of WWE’s Mr McMahon
HE’S the richest man in professional wrestling, having turned the industry into a global entertainment empire under the WWE banner.
But Vince McMahon has been dogged by scandal and controversy throughout his career.
McMahon‘s time as the CEO and chairman of the world’s most profitable wrestling brand came to an end in January 2024 amid allegations of sex trafficking and sexual assault.
In February, it was reported that the 79-year-old is under federal investigation and authorities obtained a search warrant for his phone.
He was ordered to hand over documents regarding allegations of “rape, sex trafficking, sexual assault, commercial sex transaction, harassment or discrimination” against past or present WWE employee.
Under his watch, there have been multiple drug scandals among his wrestlers.
He has also been the mastermind of several crazy storylines, including an incest plot involving his own daughter, and even created an on-screen persona known as the evil boss, Mr McMahon.
But was this a case of art imitating life?
Ahead of the new Netflix documentary Mr McMahon, which airs on Wednesday, we look into the complicated life of the WWE boss and the controversies that contributed to his stunning fall from grace.
Rise to power
Born in North Carolina, McMahon didn’t meet his father until he was 12 due to divorce but after graduating from university, he became a prominent member of his father’s wrestling company and even pushed for its name to be changed to World Wrestling Federation (WWF).
He married Linda McMahon and had two children, Shane, 54, and Stephanie, 47, who would all later play a big role in the company.
McMahon bought the company in 1982 and began poaching wrestlers from rivals, signing Hulk Hogan as the face of the brand.
Along the way, he ushered the company into its glory days – known as the Attitude Era – and even saw off competition from the likes of World Championship Wrestling.
Wrestlers such as The Rock, The Undertaker, and Stone Cold Steve Austin became huge crossover stars. Women such as Lita, Trish Stratus, and Chyna were pushed as serious wrestlers to bring in more male viewers.
At the height of its success, the company’s weekly flagship show, Raw, drew upwards of 10 million viewers. It’s biggest pay per view, Wrestlemania became a global spectacle.
After losing a lawsuit with the World Wildlife Fund over the WWF trademark in 2002, the company became World Wrestling Entertainment.
But legal issues centred on McMahon’s behaviour flared up as early as 1992.
Sexual abuse allegations
Rita Chatterton, who had worked as the first female referee in the company in the mid-80s, claimed that she was raped by McMahonin a limousine in 1986. She left the company that same year.
She first came forward with her claims in 1992 but the statute of limitations – which only allows criminal charges within a certain time limit – had run out.
She then recounted her story on a TV show, saying: “I was forced into oral sex with McMahonMcMahon. When I couldn’t complete his desires, he got really angry, started ripping off my jeans, pulled me on top of him and told me again that, if I wanted a half-a-million-dollar-a-year contract, that I had to satisfy him.
“He could make me or break me and if I didn’t satisfy him, I was black-balled, that was it, I was done.”
McMahon countered her claim by saying that they had a consensual relationship. In 1993, McMahon, alongside his wife Linda, sued Rita claiming that her allegations of rape were false.
But, facing another trial over steroids, he dropped the case.
After new allegations were levelled against McMahon, in 2022, Rita repeated the story of her alleged experiences and filed a $11.5million lawsuit against him.
He settled later that month but his attorney insisted it was not an admission of guilt and was just to “avoid the cost of litigation”.
Sources close to the lawsuit claimed McMahon agreed to a multi-million dollar settlement.
When I couldn’t complete his desires, he got really angry, started ripping off my jeans, pulled me on top of him and told me if I wanted a half-a-million-dollar-a-year contract, I had to satisfy him.
Rita Chatterton
Rita also spoke about what she claimed was a toxic working environment at WWE. She recounted an incident where executive Pat Patterson wanted female wrestlers to harm her.
She said: “I ended up doing my very first match, a women’s tag team match, and I found out a few months later that Pat Patterson told the women to break my legs and make sure I never wanted to get in the ring again.
“Luckily, being women, instead of doing anything to hurt me, they helped me, and that’s how I got started.”
“It was a crazy world and things were so much different back then, but luckily the women knew that you had to work 10 times as hard for a quarter of the recognition that the men got at the time.”
Shocking allegations
In January 2024, Janel Grant filed a lawsuit which claimed that McMahon had coerced her into a sexual relationship.
It also claimed that McMahon, alongside WWE star John Laurinaitis and an unnamed UFC fighter, had sexually trafficked her.
She also claimed that she was repeatedly sexually assaulted between 2020 and 2021.
The lawsuit claimed: “McMahon also subjected Ms. Grant to acts of extreme cruelty and degradation that caused Ms. Grant to disassociate and/or become numb to reality in order to survive the horrific encounters.”
Grant graphically explained how McMahon allegedly coerced her into taking part in a number of heinous sexual acts, such as defecating on her head during a threesome and using sex toys on her that he named after wrestlers.
She also alleged he offered her a position at the company in return for sexual favours.
After McMahon created a position for her in the company’s legal department, he is alleged to have harassed her with sexually explicit text messages.
He allegedly locked Grant inside his private locker room and forced himself on her over a massage table, she claims in the lawsuit.
In a statement, McMahon said: “I stand by my prior statement that Ms. Grant’s lawsuit is replete with lies, obscene made-up instances that never occurred, and is a vindictive distortion of the truth”.
He continued: “I intend to vigorously defend myself against these baseless accusations, and look forward to clearing my name.”
In February this year, Laurinaitis released a statement claiming that he, too, was a victim of McMahon’s alleged sexual misconduct.
His lawyer told Vice: “Read the allegations. Read the Federal Statute. Power, control, employment supervisory capacity, dictatorial sexual demands with repercussions if not met.
“Count how many times in the complaint McMahon exerts control over both of them.”
Incest and humiliation storylines
During his time as WWE CEO, McMahon was known for having firm control over the company’s creative decisions. He had to approve on-screen storylines.
During this time, he devised some of the most bizarre plots in the history of professional wrestling.
One outlandish running theme saw him take of his trousers in the middle of the ring to order wrestlers and other on-screen characters to kiss his buttocks.
In another in-ring segment, he commanded Trish Stratus, a female wrestler, to bark like a dog. In the storyline, McMahon was having an affair with Trish.
In 2006, the wrestling world was stunned when he commissioned a segment promoted as two wrestlers having a live sex celebration in the ring.
Edge (Adam Copeland) had just won the WWE championship. To celebrate, he promised to have sex with his girlfriend at the time, Lita (Amy Dumas).
The awkward segment saw the two wrestlers stripped down to their underwear. At a certain point, Lita’s bare breast was exposed, with the wrestler scrambling to cover up.
Years later, Lita said that she vehemently opposed the segment but was threatened she would be fired if she did not go along with it.
In a documentary, McMahon’s daughter, Stephanie, who had an on-screen role for several years, described how he approached her with an incestuous storyline when she was pregnant with the baby of Wrestler Triple H.
She said: “My dad did approach me about wanting to be the father of my baby in a storyline for TV, which again only the second time I’ve ever actually said no to him for something he wanted to do.
“That one was just a little too gross actually. It’s completely disgusting. I don’t find the entertainment value in it at all. And he is actually my father, so how could I even play that out?
“I can’t fake kiss my dad like we were in love or something. It’s just revolting all the way around.”
He then suggested that Stephanie’s brother, Shane, step in as the father of her child, which she also says she was uncomfortable with.
When Shane was asked about the storyline during an interview, he bizarrely joked: “Well, my sister’s hot. I don’t know if I would’ve really minded that.”
Drugs controversy
In 1991, Dr George Zahorian III was found guilty of illegally supplying anabolic steroids.
At his trial, it was revealed that he had supplied steroids to the WWF and its wrestlers while working as a ringside doctor.
As a result of the doctor’s evidence, Vince McMahon was charged with conspiring to distribute steroids and possession of illegal steroids with intent to distribute in 1993.
Prosecutors at the trials claimed McMahon coerced wrestlers into taking steroids to improve their physique.
Eleven wrestlers were called to testify but, while most denied he had personally persuaded them to take steroids, Kevin Wacholz, who wrestled under the name Nailz, claimed he had been put under pressure to do so.
However the defence team labelled him a hostile witness who bore a grudge after parting ways with the company a year earlier.
The judge dismissed the distribution charge and McMahon, who admitted he had used steroids before they were made illegal, was found not guilty.
Following the trial, he said: “I’m elated. Just like in wrestling, in the end, the good guys always win.”
Hush money settlement
After an investigation into undisclosed payments McMahon had paid as a result of an affair with a former employee of the company, it was discovered that $19.6 million in unrecorded payments were made to settle sexual misconduct claims.
The payments were made between 2006 and 2022. The investigation also unearthed claims made not only against McMahon but also John Laurinaitis, who was also an executive at the company.
The women all signed deals that would prohibit them from “discussing potential legal claims against or their relationships” with the billionaire.
News of the hush payments shook the wrestling industry with many calling for McMahon to resign as CEO and chairman of WWE.
In June 2002, McMahon resigned from the company only to return six months later when TKO bought WWE. But in January 2024, he announced his retirement after former WWE employee Janel Grant made damning accusations.
Wrestler’s death
At the 1999 Over the Edge pay-per-view, wrestler Owen Hart was set to challenge The Godfather for the company’s Intercontinental Championship.
At the event, Owen was scheduled to make his entrance from the arena’s rafters. He was supposed to drop down while suspended by a harness.
The stunt was successfully tested at a previous show with a different harness configuration. But at the pay-per-view, a cable disengaged from the safety vest he wore.
Owen was dropped more than 70 feet from the rafters into the ring. As he landed, his chest hit the top rope. Owen was rushed to the hospital.
Despite several efforts to save his life, doctors stopped all work on him after 13 minutes and pronounced him dead at 34. It was revealed that falling chest first onto the top rope resulted in him bleeding to death internally.
Owen’s death shocked the wrestling community. Bret Hart, Owen’s brother, who had a longstanding feud with McMahon, blamed the businessman for his sibling’s death.
He said the incident resulted from McMahon’s “obsession for ratings and revenues”. Talking about McMahon, Hulk Hogan said: “I hope he learns a lesson from this horrible accident.”
McMahon received fierce backlash for his decision to carry on with the show, despite the accident. A columnist for the Calgary Sun said it “was sick, disrespectful and wrong. But what else would you expect from the WWF?”
Owen’s wife Martha said: “After he lost his fight for life they just scooped him up and ordered the next match out. Where’s the humanity? Would he have wanted the show to go on? Absolutely not.”
Racism allegations
In April last year, former WWE writer Britney Abrahams sued the promotion for discrimination after she objected to alleged “offensively racist and stereotypical jargon used in WWE scripts”.
One of the examples cited by Abrahams was Apollo Crews, an American wrestler who returned to the company with a whole new gimmick.
The black wrestler entered the ring holding a tribal spear and spoke with a strong Nigerian accent, which he never had before. Abrahams alleged that she had complaints about the accent.
She also claimed that there was a pitch for Mansoor, a Saudi American, to say that he was behind the September 11th terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon.
The attacks happened in 2001 – Mansoor, who is now 28 would have been five at the time.
The suit further claimed that Bianca Belair, a black female wrestler, was made to say lines such as “uh-uh! Don’t make me take off my earrings and beat your ass!”
In her lawsuit which named McMahon and several others claimed that she was fired when she took home a commemorative chair after a pay per view event.
She alleged that although some of her caucasian colleagues took home chairs, they faced no consequences.
Montreal screwjob
Most wrestling promotions like WWE feature wrestlers in storylines that have predetermined winners.
In one match at the Survivor Series pay-per-view in 1997, Canadian wrestler Bret Hart, the WWE champion at the time, was supposed to lose the title to his real-life arch-nemesis Shawn Michaels.
Bret was leaving the WWE to join its rival promotion WCW and McMahon was keen to make sure he wouldn’t leave with the title.
Although Bret agreed to drop the title, he didn’t want to lose in Canada as he felt it would disrespect the fans.
However, during a match against Shawn in Canada, McMahon instructed the referee to call the match in favour of Shawn, making him the new WWE champion.
This infuriated Bret and sparked a 12-year-long rivalry between him, Shawn and McMahon.
Bret said: “I was well under the understanding that they were going to try and screw me that day somehow. I was just determined not to let it happen.”
The three men have since made peace.
Mr McMahon is on Netflix from Wednesday September 25