Warning: This post contains details of sexual assault.
Alexander Wang is facing new allegations of sexual assault. Keaton Bullen is the latest victim to speak out against Wang, CNN reports. High-profile victims' rights lawyer Lisa Bloom is now representing 11 men who have made allegations against the designer.
Bullen is a 21-year-old student at New York's Parsons School of Design. He claims that he met the designer aged 20 at the Fishbowl club in New York City on 24 August 2019. Bullen alleges that after inviting him onto the dancefloor, Wang unzipped his trousers, put his hands down his pants, and groped him. "I completely froze," Bullen told BBC News. "He then said: 'I want to take you home with me.' I felt weirded out... and removed myself from the situation as fast as possible."
While he is not taking legal action, Mr. Bullen said he felt a duty to speak out to support others who had come forward with allegations and were being called "liars."
Last week, David Casavant, one of the men represented by Bloom, detailed Wang's sexual misconduct on record. Casavant is a 30-year-old fashion stylist and fashion archivist who knew Wang both professionally and through New York's nightlife scene.
He alleges that in January 2017 while at a party at Brooklyn's the Good Room, Wang approached him and pulled down his pants and underwear. Casavant was drunk at the time and he told the Times, “I was so apparently in a vulnerable state.” A friend who was with Casavant confirms the incident. Casavant also states that Wang attempted to undress him earlier in the night and told the Times that he thinks his intention was to “humiliate” him.
The details of Casavant's allegations are similar to previous ones leveled against Wang. Last December, the designer was accused of groping British model Owen Mooney. Shortly afterward, a similar account was brought forward by trans model and actor Gia Garison who said Wang tried to pull her underwear down in the VIP area of a club. Shit Model Management (SMM), an advocacy account for models in the industry, also compiled a host of anonymous allegations which include drugging and groping.
Wang's lawyer, Eric M. George, sent a letter to the Times where the designer denied Casavant's allegations. It also attempted to discredit Casavant, claiming he had an “irrefutable yearslong personal animus toward Mr. Wang.” This is similar to the statement Wang put out after Mooney's allegations came to light, where he sought to discredit those who made allegations against him.
Casavant said that he decided to come forward after Wang's statement. “I didn’t like the idea that people could be branded as liars who weren’t. I didn’t feel a necessary response from the fashion industry about it. Which I can understand — I get it, they were mainly anonymous, so that’s fine. But here I am. I’m sitting in front of you. I’m saying who I am. I’m not anonymous anymore.”
Related reading: Why Is Fashion Still Ignoring Its MeToo Moments?
The pandemic and subsequent stay-at-home regulations have led to an increase in domestic violence. If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline (US) and National Domestic Abuse Helpline (UK) to find out how to get help. You are not alone.
