Posh men-only Presidents Club charity bash saw hostesses groped and hookers – identified by their towering red heels – romping with guests
IT was one of the social events of the year where high-rollers and mega-rich bosses met to raise a small fortune for charity.
But the annual Presidents Club dinner has now been exposed as a seedy orgy of excess where leering rich men grope scantily clad young hostesses and where prostitutes - identified by their towering red heels - romp with the wealthy guests.
There were also claims of guests exposing themselves and snorting cocaine in the toilets at last Thursday's event in London's Dorchester Hotel.
Hostesses said they were routinely mauled, asked to take off their knickers and offered thousands of pounds to become mistresses.
They were encouraged to drink alcohol with the guests, sit on their laps and even take cigarette breaks with them.
One stunned hostess told The Sun how she was made to feel like a prostitute by “horrible, seedy men” who she said were “high on cocaine”.
The 21-year-old said some girls were offered thousands of pounds to be mistresses.
Others were groped, had hands shoved up their skirts, their bottoms fondled and were repeatedly asked to join the men in the exclusive hotel's bedrooms.
One shocked businessman, who has attended the event, said last night: “It’s a cesspit. The event is portrayed as a night out to raise a lot of money for good causes but it’s just an upper-class whorehouse.”
The black-tie, men-only event, attended by 360 wealthy guests, raised £2million for Great Ormond Street Hospital and the Evelina London Children’s Hospital.
Up to 130 girls were lined up as hostesses at £150 for the fundraiser, with David Walliams as the master of ceremonies.
Many of the hostesses were budding actresses or students but they were all selected because they were tall — no shorter than 5ft 6in — thin and pretty.
They were given black dresses that barely skimmed their bottoms. See-though mesh panels revealed their side boobs and midriff.
And they were ordered to take along matching black underwear and sexy, black, high-heeled shoes.
Charities return money after scandal
Great Ormond Street Hospital is among the high-profile charities to have announced it will return funds donated by the Presidents Club following the scandal.
The children’s hospital in London has said it did not benefit from the event at the Dorchester Hotel on Thursday and will be returning previous donations from Presidents Club.
A spokeswoman for Gosh Children’s Charity described the reports as shocking and said: “We would never knowingly accept donations raised in this way.
“Due to the wholly unacceptable nature of the event we are returning previous donations and will no longer accept gifts from the Presidents Club Charitable Trust.”
Evelina London Children's Hospital also said it is returning previous donations from the group, saying "this is not the kind of event we would wish to be associated with".
Advertising giant WPP, which sponsored a table at this year's event, announced it will end its association with the Presidents Club.
The Charity Commission said it is looking into the allegations "as a matter of urgency".
Caroline Dandridge, founder of Arista, the agency which hired the hostesses, told the girls: “Some of the guests are fat and ugly and you may feel uncomfortable. Just tell them, ‘You’re a naughty boy’.”
Their first duty was to parade on the stage in the Dorchester’s ballroom as Power by Little Mix boomed out of the speakers.
One said: “When we first went in all the men were sat at their tables and we had to prance in one-by-one across the stage as if we were being chosen or auctioned off.
“We had to walk across smiling one by one. Not a constant line. It was like you go, then the next, then the next in front of around 300 cheering, clapping men.
“It felt like prostitutes all lining up. It was so seedy. I did not sign up for that. The girls were like, ‘Oh my God, why are we doing this?’”
As the night wore on, the hostesses found themselves being treated like “play things”.
One said: “We were objects for them to gawp at, touch. To be laughed at. The way the men behaved made me feel incredibly uncomfortable. Some of them looked really worried.”
Another hostess said: “After hair and make-up I thought this was a classy event. I was wrong. Half the girls were drunk and groping was de rigueur. Almost everybody there was twice the age of the girls.”
Another revealed: “The men were touching their girls’ legs, putting their hands up their skirts and even offered money for sex.
“Some men there definitely wanted to sleep with the girls. You’d hear comments like, ‘You’re coming back with me tonight’.
“They definitely wanted sex. One girl was asked if she’d be a guy’s mistress for £50,000 a year for ‘three visits’. There were loads of weird offers like that.
“Some of the men were just drunk and silly but others were definitely horrible predators.”
One 19-year-old was openly asked by a man old enough to be her granddad: “Are you a prostitute?”
Another girl claimed a guest flashed his penis to her during the event.
A third hostess reported being grabbed by the waist, given a glass of champagne and told: “I want you to down that glass, rip off your knickers and dance on that table.”
According to one hostess five of the girls wore towering red heels — so they could be identified as available for “extra duties”.
She said: “The inference is they were hookers, available for sex.
“During the night there were numerous girls going to rooms with men. In previous years girls with extra duties wore red sashes or belts but this year they had red shoes.”
Later, three older women dressed in bright red dresses — clearly escorts, according to one hostess - arrived to work the after-party.
Last night, a hostess told ITV News: “They were acting very provocatively around the men. Kissing men almost instantly. It was really shocking to see.”
The girls were assigned tables and told to “get involved” with the men. Those seen spending too long away — even to go to the toilet — were dragged back to work.
One said: “They said it was our job to be engaging with the men and not standing and huddling on our own. Caroline had about eight or nine men and women in suits who were working for her who’d come and tell us off. They’d nudge us, telling us to ‘get involved’.”
The girls were told to keep supplying the men with glasses of champagne, whisky and vodka.
On stage, dancers in red military outfits had their bare boobs on display, as guests drank and dined on smoked salmon.
Businessman and restaurateur, Jimmy Lahoud, 67, was reportedly seen dancing enthusiastically with three young women in red dresses.
Also among the well-heeled guests were Dragons’ Den tycoon Peter Jones and chef Gino D’Acampo but there is no suggestion they behaved inappropriately.
At 10pm, the hostesses took a break as the main event of the night — a charity auction billed as “the most un-PC event of the year” — got under way.
Among the lots was a course of plastic surgery. As bidding started, a model with enhanced boobs came on to the stage shouting: “Your wife could look like me!”
A lap-dancing night for 250 guests at Soho’s Windmill strip club was also on offer.
Lots also included a Land Rover, a Tesla car and the chance to have your name as a character in David Walliams’ next children’s book.
After the auction, the girls were herded back until midnight before moving on to an after-party in a smaller room next door. The hostesses said they were encouraged to drink as much as they liked.
Who’s in the Presidents Club? Guestlist for notorious fundraiser
Celebs who were listed for a spot at the male-only event included TV chef Gino D'Acampo, telly Dragons Peter Jones and Theo Paphitis, and presenter Vernon Kay.
Others household names included retail billionaire Sir Phillip Green, comedian Jimmy Tarbuck and Tamara Ecclestone's husband Jay Rutland.
Relatives of British icons also found their way onto the guestlist.
Liam Botham, the son of England cricketer Ian Botham; Nathan Sugar, the grandson of Lord Alan Sugar; Jack Sullivan, the son of West Ham owner David Sullivan and Alexander Spencer-Churchill, a relative of Sir Winston Churchill were all on the list.
There is no suggestion those listed are involved in the sexual harassment allegations exposed by the Financial Times.
The event last Thursday was hosted by BGT favourite David Walliams who has firmly denied any involvement in the harassment claims.
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One of them added: “People were doing coke. One of the men asked me if I knew how they could get it. I said I didn’t know.
"They went outside to get it. There was lots of talk of it and people were doing it in the toilets.
";They weren’t snorting it off the table or whatever but it was being done subtly.”
The girls said their phones were taken from them to stop them taking pictures and they were required to sign agreements to stop them talking about the event.
But nearly a week after the event they had still not been paid.
Financial Times reporter Madison Marriage, who went undercover to expose the scandal, said: “It was shocking and surprising to see it still going on in this day and age.”
The Dress Code
ALL 130 hostesses at the ball had to be thin, pretty and at least 5ft 6in tall — with matching black bras, undies and stilettos.
They had their hair and make-up done professionally beforehand, and each wore a skimpy black dress, like the one posed in by our model.
A see-though mesh panel also showed off the girls’ side boobs and midriff. Five wore red stilettos for “extra duties”.