On Monday, Alexander Wang released a statement on his personal Instagram page following allegations of sexual assault against the New York fashion designer. In the statement, Wang called the allegations, which include rape, groping, and drugging, “false [and] fabricated.”
“These baseless allegations were started on social media by sites which repeatedly disregarded the value and importance of evidence or fact checking,” he wrote. The post also stated that Wang’s “team” is currently investigating the claims made against him. “I promise to remain honest and transparent throughout that process.”
Monday’s post follows a statement that Wang shared with The New York Times on New Year’s Eve. “Over the last few days, I have been on the receiving end of baseless and grotesquely false accusations,” he wrote. “I never engaged in the atrocious behaviour described and would never conduct myself in the manner that’s been alleged.”
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The allegations started when model Owen Mooney posted a TikTok video on December 13. According to Mooney’s video, the model was in a crowded New York City club in 2017 when he felt someone touching him. “I was by myself at one point and this guy next to me obviously took advantage of the fact that no one could fucking move and he just started like touching me up, like, fully up my leg and in my crotch,” he said in the video. “It made me freeze completely.” In the original video, Mooney left out the name of the designer who he allegedly saw when he turned to face the person who touched him, calling him “a really famous fashion designer.”
That same day, after receiving a comment on the original video that said “It’s Alexander Wang,” Mooney released another video, confirming that it was Wang. “I thought, in the previous video, that the best thing to do was to not mention any names, but this comment surprised me just because they actually got it right. Turns out, Alexander Wang is a massive sexual predator and there have been a load of other people he’s done this to,” Mooney said. “It’s just really fucked up that people with this type of status think their power gives them this type of pass to be able to do this to people,” he continued.
Following Mooney’s release of the videos, Instagram account Shit Model Management posted, “Alexander Wang is an alleged sexual predator. Many male models and trans models have come out and spoken about the alleged sexual abuse that Alexander Wang has inflicted upon them.” The post also reposted Mooney’s video and shared the anonymous stories of other alleged victims in a slideshow. One alleged that Wang gave the author MDMA without their consent, sending them into a “manic episode followed by psychosis.” Another claimed Wang “raped [his] friend.”
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After the post went live, fashion watchdog Diet Prada reposted Shit Model Management’s post, as well as Mooney’s video and screenshots from the model's Instagram stories that provided more detail into his claim. The account also brought up the fact that Wang cast R. Kelly, who was charged with 10 counts of rape in 2019, in his spring '17 campaign.
According to The New York Times, the same year that the incident Mooney described took place, New York DJ Nick Ward posted on Twitter that Wang “grabbed his genitals at a Brooklyn concert.” Two years later, in 2019, rapper Azealia Banks shared a series of anonymous allegations on her Instagram stories from people who said they were also groped by the designer.
Refinery29 has reached out to the designer’s team for further comment.
If you have experienced sexual violence and are in need of crisis support, please reach out to Rape Crisis.