Fashion mogul Peter Nygard’s sex assault appeal gambit torpedoed

Nygard was convicted of four counts of sexual assault in 2023 and sentenced to 11 years in prison

Get the latest from Brad Hunter straight to your inbox

Published May 15, 2026  •  Last updated 23 minutes ago  •  2 minute read

Seen through a police vehicle window, Canadian-Finnish fashion mogul Peter Nygard leaves a courthouse in Toronto on Sept. 26, 2023. Photo by COLE BURSTON /AFP via Getty Images

Elderly fashion baron Peter Nygard’s appeal of his myriad sexual assault convictions and accompanying prison sentence has gone down in flames.

Article content

Ontario’s top court dismissed the 84-year-old’s courtroom Hail Mary on Friday. His convictions have been upheld and it is likely he will die in prison.

Article content

Article content

Nygard was convicted of four counts of sexual assault in 2023 and sentenced to 11 years in prison. Once his pre-trial custody was factored in, his sentence amounted to around seven more years in prison.

Shocking photos have surfaced which show fashion mogul Peter Nygard with bikini-clad young women. (Splashnews)

The Finnish-born Winnipeg-raised rag trade titan long had a reputation for sleazy behaviour with women. The Toronto Sun obtained photos of Nygard surrounded by scantily-clad young women at one of his “pamper parties” on his Caribbean redoubt.

And this year will almost certainly not get any better. Nygard also faces a Quebec trial on sex charges and eventual extradition to the U.S. on sex trafficking and racketeering charges where he will go on trial in New York.

Nygard has denied the allegations against him.

About Nygard’s appeal

The charges Nygard was appealing emerged from multiple women, including one victim who was just 16 years old when he sexually assaulted her.

Article content

Article content

The charges stemmed from incidents spanning from the 1980s until the mid-2000s. The victims claimed they were sexually assaulted at Nygard International head office in Toronto, where he preyed on unsuspecting females.

Peter Nygard at the 24th Night of 100 Stars Oscars Viewing Gala at The Beverly Hills Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., on March 2, 2014. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP

His legal eagles argued that the flamboyant fashion titan’s prison sentence was “excessive.” They also argued that the trial judge made legal errors. One bone of contention was allowing expert testimony on the effects of trauma to be introduced.

The Crown in its submissions claimed that the testimony of clinical psychologist Lori Haskell was a “harmless error” that did not mislead the jury or cause a miscarriage of justice.

What the appeal panel said

The three-judge panel unanimously agreed that allowing Haskell’s evidence was a harmless error. They found no other errors by the trial judge.

As for a sentence discount, the Appeal Court stated that reducing it “would not be appropriate.”

Nygard’s twilight years have been punctuated by a slew of lurid allegations, and a dramatic turn in his financial fortunes.

Article content

People hold signs at the Time’s Up Nygard protest against Canadian fashion mogul Peter Nygard in Winnipeg on Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Kelly Geraldine Malone

In 2020, he stepped down as Nygard International chairman after U.S. law enforcement raided his offices in New York. The company is now defunct.

But he did get a break on a raft of Manitoba charges that eventually led to them being stayed last fall. The judge found records of a police interview with an alleged victim in 1993 had been destroyed without justification.

The judge ruled the destruction of the tapes was a violation of his right to a fair trial.

Officials in Manitoba held back on laying charges until after 2020. Instead, they sent the probe to Saskatchewan where a judge ultimately gave cops the green light to arrest Nygard.

In response, his legal eagles returned fire with a massive defamation lawsuit naming Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Winnipeg Police and a slew others as defendants. Those claims have not been tested in court.

[email protected]

@HunterTOSun

Article content