Alexander Wang said he will "do better" after facing sexual-assault allegations.- Lisa Bloom, a lawyer representing some of his accusers, said her clients "acknowledge" the apology.
- Wang previously denied any allegations of sexual assault in a statement sent to Insider.
Alexander Wang is promising to "do better" after a number of individuals came forward with sexual-assault allegations against the A-list fashion designer in December 2020.
In an Instagram post shared on his personal account on Monday, Wang said he supported the accusers' "right to come forward." The post was reshared to his eponymous label's Instagram stories.
"I've listened carefully to what they had to say," Wang wrote in the statement, referring to those who accused him of sexual assault. "It was not easy for them to share their stories, and I regret acting in a way that caused them pain."
"While we disagree with some of the details of these personal interactions, I will set a better example and use my visibility and influence to encourage others to recognize harmful behaviors," Wang added.
"Life is about learning and growth, and now that I know better, I will do better," the statement concluded.
The designer had previously denied the allegations against him in a statement shared with Insider by a representative in December, calling the accusations of assault "baseless and grotesquely false" and vowing "to get to the bottom of this and hold accountable whoever is responsible for originating these claims and viciously spreading them online."
A few days later, he publicly denied the accusations in both a January 4 Instagram post and in a memo sent to his company's employees obtained by Insider.
Attorney Lisa Bloom - a prominent lawyer in high-profile assault cases who represented several men accusing Wang of sexual assault - also shared a brief statement on her Twitter page on Monday saying that her clients had met with Wang and his team to "speak their truth to him" and had "expressed their pain and hurt." Her tweet also said she and her clients "acknowledge" the designer's apology and "are moving forward."
-Lisa Bloom (@LisaBloom) March 9, 2021
When reached by Insider regarding Wang's recent apology, both Bloom and representatives for Wang told us they didn't have any further comment beyond what was already shared on social media.
Allegations against Wang started circulating widely in December
The allegations against Wang appeared to first surface on TikTok and through two Instagram accounts that seek to expose wrongdoings in the
While some of the allegations shared by SMM (which has 244,000 followers) and Diet Prada (which has 2.5 million followers) were anonymous and Insider was unable to independently verify them, two people who publicly accused the designer of sexual assault spoke to Insider on the record.
Owen Mooney, who shared a viral TikTok video alleging that he was "groped" by Wang in a packed New York club in 2017, said that he wanted the focus to be on allegations that came after he talked about his experience.
"Although what happened to me was unacceptable, the stories being told by other victims is the reason why I have gone public," Mooney told Insider.
Another accuser, Nick Ward, told Insider that at an event in 2017, Wang "swung his hand and grabbed" Ward's crotch.
At the time of the December report, Wang's representatives did not comment on specific allegations reported on by Insider but broadly denied any wrongdoing in a general statement shared with us. In February, the BBC reported that Wang had denied being at the same club as Ward the night of the alleged assault.