Last week, Kate Upton took to Twitter to call out Guess for its continued support of its co-founder Paul Marciano, writing “It’s disappointing that such an iconic women’s brand, @GUESS, is still empowering Paul Marciano as their creative director,” adding #MeToo to suggest she’d been a victim of sexual harassment.
She then posted the tweet on Instagram and accused Marciano of harassment, saying “[Marciano] shouldn’t be allowed to use power in the industry to sexually and emotionally harass women. #metoo,” though failing to elaborate further. However, she told TMZ that she is excited to share the entire story with the public, hinting at a more detailed explanation of the allegations.
In turn, according to TMZ, Marciano claimed he never touched Upton, nor has he ever been in a private setting with her. At the time, he refused to apologize to Upton, as he felt he “has done nothing wrong.” But now, it appears Marciano is ready to defend himself with a statement of his own.
Marciano released a statement to TMZ in response to Upton’s social media posts, which claimed he used his position in the business to attack women.
“Ms. Upton provided no details….She leveled this malicious and false accusation only houses before a gala event at our headquarters in Los Angeles unveiling a new Guess campaign. Ms. Upton told TMZ that ‘I’m excited to tell my whole story.”
“I am told that she has been working with others for some time to defame me and will claim that I groped her among other things,” he continued.
“This accusation is false. I have never touched Kate Upton. I have never been alone with Kate Upton. I have never acted inappropriately towards her,” he said, as a source added that the co-founder believes Upton’s attack is in retaliation after Guess ended its relationship with her after a photo shoot gone wrong.
