A prominent artist and Nike collaborator was branded an alleged pest “joking about her rape room” after he and his wife allegedly posted an outrageous job ad seeking an assistant to “make life easier for the couple in every possible way.”
Tom Sachs, an elite artist and Manhattan socialite, has been accused of lewd and inappropriate behavior by studio personnel speaking to brakingwho says he subjected them to bizarre tasks, including group workouts and inappropriate meetings with female employees while wearing tight underwear.
The 56-year-old, whose modern structures like repackaged McDonald’s budget meals sell for more than $300,000, is the alleged author of the controversial job ad, seeking a 24-hour attendant with “a high level of discretion “. ‘.
While the self-described ‘cult’ in Sachs’ studio was intentionally part of her motive, those who worked inside were allegedly subjected to terrifying tests.
They claim that Sachs would speak inappropriately about women and sex, and share her penchant for virtual reality pornography during group lunches.
Tom Sachs, left, faces a litany of disturbing allegations about how he ran his Manhattan studio. He is pictured with his wife Sarah Hoover.
Sachs’s work is represented at the famous Sperone Westwater gallery in Soho, pictured
The revelations apparently stemmed from an aggressive job ad allegedly posted by Sachs, 56, and his artist wife Sarah Hoover, 38, seeking an assistant to attend to virtually every aspect of their lives.
Apparently the posting was to work for an ‘art world family’, with the new hire tasked with menial jobs such as picking up clothes, handling ‘medical needs’ and helping out with ‘cats in the studio’.
The new hire must also “have the ability to smoothly juggle multiple priorities in a dynamic, unstructured environment and possess the flexibility to change course at any time,” according to the publication.
Applicants were even warned that they would have to manage the couple’s “dog system” and “closet system.” Those who know Sachs say the wording in the system points to him placing the ad.
The announcement also had the unintended consequence of unleashing a wave of allegations about Sachs’s alleged troubling behavior.
Sachs’ revered studio has a disturbing status within the Manhattan art world, where it certainly imposes strict rules on its employees to fit into the ‘systems’.
But the employees allege they quickly found themselves in a troubled environment, where Sachs was open about the kind of pornography she liked during group lunches.
The bespectacled creative is said to have expressed his enthusiasm for virtual reality porn, where the ‘viewer’ puts on a headset that allows them to feel like they are interacting with the scene.
A young staff member claims she was afraid to be alone with him at night, particularly after a shocking claim that he called the studio’s basement storage room the “rape room.”
Sachs subsequently changed the name of the rape room to the “consent room”, with a spokesperson telling Curbed that both terms were only intended as a joke.
While discussing an assistant’s living situation, he allegedly asked her if she was “fucking all her roommates.”
On another occasion, he reportedly told her that she was “lucky to live in an age where curves and buttocks are all the rage.”
Despite routinely walking around in her underwear, Sachs often enforced strict uniform rules on her staff, including having them wear them during 7 a.m. group workouts and races through Soho, Manhattan.
However, rumors about his eccentric and allegedly abusive behavior did little to dent his professional success. Sachs has enjoyed an extremely lucrative 11-year collaboration with sports giant Nike, which has seen him design shoes and other artwork for the sportswear brand.
Sachs is best known for his 11-year collaboration with Nike.
The allegations against the artist arose after he and his wife Sarah Hoover, right, posted an aggressive job ad for an assistant to “make life easier for the couple in every way possible.”
Their ‘systems’ included making sure items like pens and rulers are placed at 90-degree angles on tables, while those inside must walk in silence, responding to commands only with ‘I understand’ or ‘I don’t understand’.
Sachs has called his bizarre studio his “greatest work of art,” but former employees claimed he “strives to sow discomfort.”
New hires are also reportedly given manuals, which include tips on how to approach Sachs about her lunch and how to “avoid the things that make Tom mad.”
Sach’s spokesman dismissed it as a joke, but employees say they took it completely seriously.
His flamboyant management style also saw employees forced to give money to a ‘Leatherface’ piggy bank, named after the antagonist of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre horror franchise.
But the punishments extended well beyond that, where employees say Sachs berated them by calling them “autistic,” “retarded” and “bitches.”
“Basically, if a light bulb goes out in the middle of the night and you don’t change it the minute you walk in, you’re getting a biblical scratch on your ass,” says a former studio assistant.
In a 2019 interview with gq, Sachs described his studio as “cult,” adding: “I mean in the scariest, most familiar Manson way, in the sense that we’re totally committed to this way of life.”
He and his wife are also said to have required that all air travel be first class and a flat seat. A former floor manager added: “And if his seat doesn’t fill up, don’t bother coming back. This was repeated to me.”
Sach previously released a film titled ‘Ten Bullets’, where he filmed himself throwing a typewriter through a wall and hitting a woman.
But the employees say this was more than a one-off artistic expression, as the former employee says the artist used to throw objects at his employees for minor mistakes.
“I saw him throw a sheet of steel across the room because someone had left it in the wrong place and it nearly hit a tank of welding gas,” said one former fabricator.
‘He threw wood across the floor. One time, he ripped the alarm system off the wall and threw it away. He dropped a clipboard. A lot of clipboards. A ladder,” added another.
In an allegedly revealing moment, a studio assistant said Sachs took her young son into the gallery and told them: ‘See, this is what we call a “shiksa goddess.” This is what we call the daddy type.’
Her demands also included feeding her dog three times a day a gourmet meal of rabbit, sweet potato, julienned spinach, cranberry powder, aloe vera juice, and coconut oil.
Tom Sachs, left, and his wife Sarah Hoover, right, were apparently singled out as the authors of a controversial job ad that called for an assistant with “a high level of discretion.”
Sachs faces accusations that he serially abused his studio staff
Sachs’s past includes a myriad of offbeat, often surprising stories about her behaviour, including allegedly berating a staff member simply for opening her studio door.
Sachs, who is Jewish, reportedly named his office the “Eagle’s Nest,” after an Austrian property owned by Adolf Hitler, and the studio’s first aid kit was said to be emblazoned with a swastika.
According to the study, Sachs is “proud” of his Jewish heritage and made moves “to subvert and reclaim this painful part of Jewish history.”
Sachs could not immediately be reached by DailyMail.com, but a spokesperson told Curbed that the arena is simply a “rigorous and demanding artist’s studio”.
They added that it ‘has fostered high standards and a fast-paced work environment to support strong production. Tom Sachs Studio believes that all employees should feel safe and secure in the workplace and is committed to upholding these values.”
DailyMail.com has contacted Nike for comment.