Vanessa Feltz claims 'Mohamed Al-Fayed became angry and intimidating' after she rejected his advances

Vanessa Feltz has made claims about Mohamed Al-Fayed after more than 20 female former employees recently came forward with allegations of assault and physical violence at properties in London and Paris

Vanessa Feltz claimed Mohamed Al-Fayed became 'insistent, angry and intimidating' when she once rejected him.

More than 20 female former employees of Harrods recently came forward with allegations of assault and physical violence at properties in London and Paris. Five women alleged they had been raped by Mr Al Fayed, who died last year at the age of 94. The Egyptian billionaire was also the former owner of Fulham FC, and lawyers for the alleged victims have said they are investigating the club and other companies owned by the late billionaire. Currently, over 100 women have come forward and made claims against Al-Fayed.

Amid the allegations, Vanessa claimed she once had to 'fob him off' when he tried to flirt with her at a bar mitzvah at Claridge’s in 2002. At the time, she was 40 years old and he was 73. According to the star, he tried to get to go to an apartment upstairs and told her he would love to take her there "to show me the view from the terrace."

She added she 'wasn't interested'. Speaking about the incident, she claimed: "It would be offensive to the [bar mitzvah] host if you vanished in the middle to check out another guest’s 'terrace'. I said 'no thank you' with all the emphatic firmness people might think is my hallmark. What happened next was the epitome of not taking no for an answer.

"Al-Fayed’s tone became insistent, angry and intimidating. I stood my ground. I had no intention of following this unappealing specimen anywhere. Eventually – and it took much too long for him to get the message and stomp off – he gave up." The TV presenter went on to call him a 'monstrous man' and concluded to Daily Express: "I hope his victims get the compassion and compensation they deserve."

During a bombshell press conference held by the legal team representing alleged victims this week, Barrister Dean Armstrong KC described Fayed as a "serial sexual abuser" whose abuse was "constant and repetitive" over a span of 25 years. He said: "I have many years of practice... I have never seen a case as horrific as this," he declared at the press conference. This case combines some of the most horrific elements of the cases involving Jimmy Savile, Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein."

"Savile because in this case, as in that, the institution, we say, knew about the behaviour", Mr Armstrong continued. Epstein because in that case, as in this, there was a procurement system in place to source the women and girls. As you know, there are some very young victims. And Weinstein, because it was a person at the very top of the organisation who was abusing his power. We will say plainly, Mohamed Al Fayed was a monster."

Rape and sexual abuse * If you've been the victim of sexual assault, you can access help and resources via www.rapecrisis.org.uk or calling the national telephone helpline on 0808 802 9999

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