Model and actress Kate Upton has told Time magazine that when she was just 18, Paul Marciano, the cofounder of popular fashion label Guess, forcibly groped her.
The interview follows a tweet that Upton published on January 31, in which she alluded to Marciano’s misconduct.
It’s disappointing that such an iconic women’s brand @GUESS is still empowering Paul Marciano as their creative director #metoo
— Kate Upton (@KateUpton) January 31, 2018
She told the magazine:
After the first day of shooting the Guess Lingerie campaign [on July 25, 2010], Paul Marciano said he wanted to meet with me. As soon as I walked in with photographer Yu Tsai, Paul came straight up to me, forcibly grabbed my breasts and started feeling them – playing with them actually. After I pushed him away, he said, “I’m making sure they’re real.”
Time says that Yu Tsai, the photographer Upton mentioned, has corroborated her story.
She also told that magazine that although she tried to do everything she could to get away from Marciano, throughout the meeting he continued to tough her in “a very dominating and aggressive way“. She says that he continually grabbed her body, smelled her, kissed her without her permission, and eventually asked Yu Tsai to leave.
Upton says she managed to text Yu Tsai asking him to stay, which he did – and he would continue to look out for her, after they devised a plan to protect Upton from Marciano’s advances.
The full interview details a shocking litany of allegations, in which Marciano makes Upton’s work environment incredibly hostile with constant come-ons and attempts to get her alone.
Marciano has adamantly denied Upton’s allegations, calling them “absolutely false” and “preposterous“.
I have never been alone with Kate Upton. I have never touched her inappropriately. Nor would I ever refer to a Guess model in such a derogatory manner.
I fully support the #metoo movement. At the same time, I will not allow others to defame me and tarnish my reputation.
Another model, Miranda Vee, has accused Marciano of “passing her on” to Mohamed Hadid, the father of models Bella and Gigi. Vee says Hadid then date raped her.
Upton says that her experiences with Marciano almost caused her to quit modelling for good.
