Barneys scion Gene Pressman accused of vengefully smearing ex-exec in score-settling book

A former Barneys executive has sued a scion of the fallen luxury empire over his bestselling memoir, claiming the book falsely blamed him for the iconic retailer’s downfall — and that the author and his brother were the real culprits.Ex-Barneys president Charles Bunstine alleges that Gene Pressman’s “They All Came to Barneys: A Personal History of the World’s Greatest Store” is a smear to his reputation — with the book falsely claiming that Bunstine “had neither the feeling, nor the experience to satisfy the responsibilities required of his role at Barneys.”In reality, it was the Pressman brothers’ “inexperience” in growing the business they inherited from their father — the legendary merchant Fred Pressman — that ultimately doomed the chain, with an overly aggressive growth strategy that sparked “significant cost overruns,” according to Bunstine’s suit.Calling the tome nothing but a “score-settling account,” Bunstine is demanding $2.4 million and an apology from 74-year-old Pressman and his publisher Penguin Random House, according to the suit filed earlier this month in Manhattan Supreme Court.Pressman did not respond to requests for comment.An attorney for Penguin and Pressman declined to comment to The Post.

Bob Pressman did not respond to requests for comment.In a September email reviewed by The Post, Penguin told Bunstine that it would “refrain from ordering reprints of the book while we work through your claims.” “They All Came to Barneys,” which debuted in September on the New York Times bestseller list at No.6, implies that Bunstine “was responsible for or at minimum significantly contributed to the Barneys bankruptcy in January 1996,” according to the complaint.The book dismisses Bunstine as a “bean counter” whose “attempts to institute order” at Barneys alienated both vendors and employees, causing a stampede of talent to leave the company before its January 1996 bankruptcy, according to the suit...