Jenene Crossan, founder of the online beauty platform Powered by Flossie, has become the latest woman to publicly accuse Sir Rod Drury of inappropriate sexualized behavior. In a series of detailed posts on Substack and LinkedIn, Crossan describes an encounter that she says left her feeling “shocked and confused,” adding a new layer to a growing number of allegations against the high-profile entrepreneur.
The allegations paint a picture of a power imbalance that Crossan says is all too familiar for female founders. Her account describes a professional meeting intended for business guidance that pivoted abruptly into a sexualized encounter, raising questions not only about Drury’s personal conduct but also about the governance and oversight of Xero, the software giant where Drury has held significant influence.
Crossan is the fourth woman to come forward with claims of unwanted advances. She joins a former employee named Amy, ex-employee Ally Naylor, and Drury’s former private chef, Megan Ruddle. While Drury has denied the allegations made by Naylor and Ruddle, and has declined to comment on Amy’s complaint via a representative, the cumulative nature of these claims has led to significant public fallout. Recently, Drury returned his New Zealander of the Year title, stating he did not want the “current situation to undermine the integrity of the awards,” while maintaining a complete rejection of the allegations.
The 2016 Encounter: ‘Oof, Gross’
The core of Crossan’s allegation dates back to 2016. She writes that she met Drury at an Auckland cafe to share progress on her business and seek professional advice. However, she alleges that shortly after exchanging pleasantries, Drury told her, “Your tits looked great over the weekend.”
According to Crossan, the comment was accompanied by a visual. Drury allegedly pulled out his phone to show her a zoomed-in photo of her chest, cropped from a newspaper picture of Crossan and her partner that had been published days earlier. Crossan notes that the image was not part of a news article he was reading, but was saved directly in his camera roll.
“I had a visceral reaction: oof, gross,” Crossan wrote, describing the moment she realized the meeting was not the “founder to founder” mentorship she had believed it to be. She reflects on a recurring anxiety for women in the tech ecosystem: the quiet, background question of why a powerful man is offering help.
Crossan says she cut the meeting short and “zipped it up,” filing the experience away for years. However, the memory resurfaced in 2018 when she spoke at an International Women’s Day event hosted by Xero’s senior leadership. Although she didn’t name Drury during her talk, a Xero leader later asked if the story was about him. Crossan confirmed it was, but declined an offer for a Xero board member to contact her, citing the power imbalance and the fear that she had “far more to lose.”
A Pattern of Behavior and the 2022 Apology
The interactions did not end with that single meeting. Crossan alleges that she received emails addressed to her as “Hey, supermodel,” and other comments that, while perhaps framed as flattery, created a “sense of dread.”
In 2022, prompted by seeing a media photo of Drury with his arms around another young female founder, Crossan sent Drury a text message expressing her concern for others and reminding him of the 2016 encounter. She wrote to him: “I’ve never forgotten the moment you pulled your phone out… Your casual sexualisation of our encounter… ‘your tits looked great’. The photos were very clearly zoomed-in images of my breasts. I was mortified.”
Drury replied 11 minutes later. In the exchange, he wrote that he was “so sorry if you’ve carried any of that for a period of time,” adding that he is “super aware of all the things I got right and wrong over the years” and that he “appreciates the nudge.” For Crossan, this response served as confirmation that the behavior was not a misunderstanding, but a known occurrence.
| Accuser | Relationship to Drury | Status of Allegation/Response |
|---|---|---|
| Jenene Crossan | Tech Founder | Spokesperson: No further comment |
| Ally Naylor | Ex-Employee | Denied by Drury; Subject of Xero review |
| Megan Ruddle | Former Private Chef | Denied by Drury |
| ‘Amy’ | Former Employee | Drury declined to comment |
Xero’s Governance and the ‘Legally Bounded’ Review
The allegations have placed Xero under intense scrutiny regarding how it handles misconduct and whether its leadership was aware of Drury’s behavior years ago. Following Ally Naylor’s public complaint, Xero appointed Maria Dew, KC, to lead an external investigation.
Crossan has been critical of the scope of this review. After consulting with Xero’s legal counsel, she claims she was initially told that experiences like hers fell outside the review’s parameters. She later clarified on LinkedIn that the investigation is “NOT currently framed as a full independent investigation into allegations or broader systemic conduct patterns,” but is instead focused primarily on Xero’s handling of a specific 2017 employee complaint.
Crossan argues that this “legally bounded” approach fails to address the wider culture or the historical conduct of individuals associated with the company. She has proposed a “working standard” for safe reporting processes, which includes:
- Anonymity by default: Using secure, purpose-built tools rather than email.
- Trauma-informed pathways: Providing written, verbal, and supported ways to participate.
- Broad Scope: Including historical conduct and extending the process to the wider business ecosystem, not just current employees.
- Protection: Explicit safeguards against retaliation.
A Xero spokesperson has maintained that the company treats all allegations of inappropriate conduct seriously and that the current board is committed to evaluating the events of 2017 with expert assistance. The company stated that the reviewer has the ability to interview any parties she considers relevant, but declined to comment further while the review is ongoing.
Disclaimer: This article reports on allegations of misconduct. All parties are presumed innocent unless proven otherwise in a court of law.
The next critical milestone in this matter will be the conclusion of the Maria Dew KC review. The findings of this inquiry will likely determine whether Xero’s board takes further action regarding its historical governance and how it manages the conduct of its high-profile associates.
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