A woman who was raped by Superdry co-founder James Holder has said he was “accountable to no one”, and revealed she was forced to return to work with him days after the attack.
Multi-millionaire Holder, 54, was jailed in May for eight years for the rape, with the judge describing it as a “despicable piece of sexual violence”.
He had attacked Gemma*, which is not her real name, in her own home after Friday night work drinks in Cheltenham in 2022, which saw him entering her taxi and raping her in her bedroom.
In an interview with the BBC, she described the dread of facing Holder in the office on the following Monday morning, and how he acted as though “nothing had happened”.
Stating that she was in “survival mode” when she returned work, she said: “It just shows him for what he is. It’s a power trip.
“He had free reign of his own behaviours and that’s not unique to just this [industry], you think about with the movie industry as well over the last few years.
“That sort of entitlement because they are in a position of power is incredibly dangerous in a work environment.”
Gemma had initially worked for Holder at Superdry, before joining another one of his businesses, where she became aware of his “controlling behaviour”.
She described the work culture as having “no room for mistakes”, and said that Holder expected a “sort of allegiance to his agenda”.
In 2022, a group of colleagues went for drinks at a bar in the town centre, with Gemma noticing that as the evening progressed, Holder’s behaviour “shifted”.
At the end of the evening, a friend called Gemma a taxi while another had been called for Holder, but he entered her car uninvited.
While the initial plan was for him to get our at her address and continue on to his own home, which he shared with his wife and two children, he entered Gemma’s house and fell asleep on her bed.
Despite Gemma sleeping in the lounge, Holder woke and beckoned her into the bedroom. When she refused, he pulled her onto the bed and raped her.
In court, she told Holder: “You entered my home uninvited. You ignored my repeated pleas to stop, acting as though you were entitled to continue your attack on my body.”
She said her home, where she should have been safe, was “completely violated” by Holder’s actions.
She was initially afraid to report him to the police given his “prevalence within the industry” and his position as her boss, but said she was granted a “blessing in disguise” when his business went into liquidation days later.
After reporting him to the police, it took four years for a jury to unanimously convict him of rape, with Gemma hoping that other women feel empowered to report sexual assaults.
“I did not ask for what happened to me. That was not on me. That is completely his responsibility,” she said.
“But I know a lot of women feel like they had a level of responsibility of what happened to them and that’s completely wrong.”
Asked how she would like Holder to be remembered now, Gemma added: “As a rapist – because that is what he is.”
