Guess shares slump after model Kate Upton tweets about executive

Guess Inc shares fell more than 14 percent on Thursday following a tweet by model and actress Kate Upton about the company’s co-founder using the #MeToo hashtag designed to highlight sexual harassment.

“It’s disappointing that such an iconic women’s brand @GUESS is still empowering Paul Marciano as their creative director #metoo”, the model tweeted on Wednesday.

“He shouldn’t be allowed to use his power in the industry to sexually and emotionally harass women #metoo”, she tweeted.

A representative for Upton, who modeled for Guess in 2011, could not be reached on Thursday to comment or provide any details. 

“Mr. Marciano denies any misconduct toward Ms. Upton,” Guess said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday.

The fashion retailer said it will investigate Upton’s concerns if it determines they have merit, adding that she had not yet made any specific allegations.

Guess also said it had investigated claims that Marciano behaved inappropriately towards two women in November 2017, after an entertainment website contacted them.

It said the investigation, aided by outside counsel, had so far been unable to corroborate the allegations and the company’s board had been unable to determine if they had merit. Marciano has denied the allegations.

Marciano responded to Upton’s allegations through celebrity news website TMZ, saying he never touched Upton, and has never been alone with her. He said he would not apologize as he had done nothing wrong, TMZ reported.

“If she has a claim, there’s one place to tell the truth and that’s in court or to the police,” he told TMZ.

Marciano could not be reached by Reuters for comment.

Guess shares were down 14.1 percent at $15.77 on Thursday, wiping about $200 million off the company’s market value.