From accepting blood diamonds from a war criminal to assaulting people with cell
phones. She may be glamorous on the runway, but supermodel Naomi Campbell has a sketchy history.
According to The Telegraph, like a number of other public figures,
Naomi Campbell was listed in pedophile Jeffrey Epstein's infamous little black book. While
appearing in the book doesn't necessarily mean that someone was aware of his crimes,
Campbell was photographed alongside his closest confidante, convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine
Maxwell, on numerous occasions. One of Epstein's victims, Virginia Giuffre, alleged on Twitter
that Campbell was not only aware of Maxwell's crimes, but was her friend as well, writing -
"She was Maxwell's BFF- There is no way in hell that she didn't
know what was happening in front of her own eyes. They were all aware of
Epstein & Maxwell's op- didn't go at any length to hide it either."
In a separate tweet, she claimed that Campbell witnessed her abuse.
Addressing the allegations that she was complicit in the abuse of underage girls,
the supermodel posted a video, entitled, "A Message From Naomi," on her YouTube channel.
While Campbell acknowledged that she knew Epstein, since he would frequently sit in the front row of
Victoria's Secret fashion shows, she insisted that she was not aware of the ongoing abuse.
"What he's done is indefensible,
and when I'd heard of what he'd done, it sickened me to my stomach. Just like everybody else."
In 2005, Naomi Campbell founded the charity Fashion For Relief to provide aid for those
whose lives were devastated by Hurricane Katrina, according to its official website.
However, in 2021, the organization's finances were called into question.
As The Guardian reported at the time, The Charity Commission for England began probing
FFR over the trustees' alarmingly high level of expenditure in consultancy and travel fees,
totaling over $100,000 in 2019 alone. There was also a marked delay in filing the accounts,
which the charity attributed to the Coronavirus pandemic.
According to the Daily Mail, lavish parties and events were hosted on the charity's behalf. A
party held for the British Museum, for instance, ended up amounting to almost
$2 million in expenses. Artist Pierre Musa, who had previously donated to the charity, alleged -
"The reality is that the FFR donations are a fraction of the money raised. Instead the
money has gone on extravagant events and 'other expenses.'"
Musa claimed that the donor list features numerous billionaires whose philanthropic
intentions are dubious. But those close to Campbell have denied that she's involved
in any sketchy deals, noting that it's not unusual for A-list galas to rack up huge bills,
claiming that none of the money used to pay for it was from the public.
Charles Taylor, the former president of Liberia, was prosecuted for crimes against humanity at
The Hague in 2010. Naomi Campbell ended up being dragged into the proceedings when it
was alleged that she received blood diamonds from the warlord. Blood diamonds are diamonds sourced
from war-ravaged countries, and used to fund atrocities. A photo of Campbell posing alongside
Taylor and Mia Farrow, who were attending a party at Nelson Mandela's house in 1997,
was used as evidence in the trial, according to The Guardian. However,
ABC News reported that the photo is of particular contention because it's been alleged that Taylor
was in South Africa at the time to procure weapons in exchange for blood diamonds.
Speaking to ABC News before the trial, Campbell insisted that she did not receive
any diamonds from Taylor. But Farrow contradicted her claims, alleging -
"She said during the night, some men had knocked at her door and she, half asleep,
had opened the door and it was representatives of
President Charles Taylor and that they had given her a huge diamond."
However, Taylor said that the diamonds he gifted Campbell were not blood diamonds,
and although the model's links to Taylor were sketchy, she eventually agreed to cooperate
with authorities and testified at the trial. During her testimony, she admitted that she did
receive diamonds from Taylor, but had no idea they were blood diamonds, nor where they came from.
"I saw a few stones in there."
"And-"
"And they were very small, dirty-looking stones."
According to CNN, Taylor was convicted of war crimes and sentenced to 50 years in 2012.
Throughout her career, Naomi Campbell has been prone to violent outbursts. As The Independent
notes, she has been accused of assault no less than eight times. The allegations date back to
1998 when, according to the BBC, she was accused of choking and shaking her then-assistant, before
hitting her in the head with a phone. Campbell pleaded guilty, though she was spared jail time.
In 2007, The New York Times reported that she once again pled guilty,
this time to assaulting her maid, Ana Scolavino. She threw a cellphone at Scolavino's head,
resulting in her being admitted to the hospital where she received four
stitches. However, Campbell said that she didn't mean to hurt her, saying -
"That was an accident because I did not intend to hit her […] I am sorry about that."
The following year, CNN reported that she was fined $4,600 and sentenced
to community service for assaulting two police officers at Heathrow Airport. She
was also banned from flying with British Airways.
Opening up about her troubled past to Oprah, Campbell acknowledged that she
had an anger problem and immediately felt guilty in the aftermath of her outbursts.
"I feel remorseful, I feel ashamed. I feel for them. 'What have I done to them?' Hurt them."
Campbell also noted that there were a couple of false assault accusations against her;
she was accused of punching an NBC camera and assaulting a chauffeur but
claimed that both allegations were fabrications.
In 2015 the Italian designers of Dolce and Gabbana generated headlines and swift condemnation when
they made some rather alarming remarks about same-sex parents. Despite both being gay,
HuffPost reports that Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana claimed that same-sex couples having
children goes against nature, and spoke negatively of children born through IVF.
Despite widespread denunciation and various boycotts of the designers, People reported
that Naomi Campbell seemingly continued to support Dolce and Gabbana, walking in their fashion show
in 2018. Subsequently, she was heavily criticized on social media for working with the company.
The Daily Mail reported that Campbell faced further backlash in 2022 when she attended
fashion events in Qatar, despite the nation being notoriously anti-LGBTQ+. Campaigners argued that
the decision was antithetical to Campbell's long-time support of LGBTQ+ rights. However,
Campbell's reps said that the backlash was misguided, arguing that her high-profile
appearances in Qatar would ultimately help effect change for the LGBTQ+ community.
Long before the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Vladimir Putin was a highly controversial figure,
renowned for, among other things, his widespread clampdown on LGBTQ+ rights across Russia and
criminalizing dissent. Nevertheless, Naomi Campbell interviewed Putin for GQ in 2011.
The interview was lighthearted, with the supermodel asking Putin about his health
and fitness regimen, and she also praised the Russian leader for his supposedly fit physique.
The conversation grew increasingly cringe-worthy when Putin began discussing his love of girls. In
particular, Putin lauded the efforts of a group of female students who posed for him in lingerie,
as part of an erotic calendar to mark his 58th birthday. In retaliation, human rights protestors
banded together to create a second, decidedly un-erotic calendar, wearing tape over their mouths
to illustrate Russia's suppression of dissidents. With regard to the second calendar, Putin said -
"It's fashionable to criticize people in power. If you come out in support of someone like me,
you're going to be accused of trying to ingratiate yourself.
The girls in the erotic calendar were courageous."
As the Evening Standard noted, Campbell deliberately avoided asking Putin any
politically charged questions. Meanwhile, Jezebel heavily criticized the model
for keeping the interview so airy, noting that she failed to press him
on issues such as his alleged mistress, corruption, or the invasion of Chechnya.
During a 2016 appearance on the Scandinavian talk show "Skavlan," Tyra Banks chronicled the history
of her fraught relationship with Naomi Campbell. When she first arrived in Paris as a young model,
Banks found herself immediately being compared to Campbell, which is arguably a racist
microaggression. Campbell took the comparisons badly and thus made Banks feel unwelcome.
"It wasn't fair to Naomi. But her response was- to this day I'm very scared of her."
Speaking to The Wall Street Journal, Banks elaborated on this difficult period,
revealing that she would cry every day because Campbell,
whom she had long idolized, was targeting her, saying -
"She was a supermodel, and I was just some new girl that had got on a plane from Paris [...] I
didn't understand that as a young girl. Like, 'Why is she doing this? This is so evil.'"
Reflecting on the situation as an adult, she said that she blamed the fashion industry itself,
as opposed to Campbell, for the bitterness between them, highlighting the tendency of
fashion execs to pit women against each other in order to drum up more publicity.
Although Campbell eventually apologized to Banks, she reignited the feud in 2020
when she reposted an article on her Instagram Story that branded Banks,
rather than Campbell, quote, "the real mean girl."
Most A-list celebs lead exceptionally comfy lives, so the least we can expect from them
is to offer basic courtesy to folks working regular jobs. Unfortunately, many stars don't
seem to have gotten that memo, and if rumors are to be believed, Naomi Campbell is among them.
The supermodel has long been accused of mistreating service staff and retail
workers. In 2001, ABC News reported that she was banned from the London store Voyage
after verbally berating the staff when they didn't immediately let her inside. In 2015,
the Daily Mail reported that Campbell threw shade at two staff members working at the Louis Vuitton
store in London. The model was allegedly irked that the workers decided to take the elevator at
the same time as her, proceeding to refer to them as, quote, "randoms," with a witness claiming -
"She continued to repeat the word until they were asked to leave by her companion."
Campbell's reps claimed the story was a total fabrication,
but she has also been accused of being unkind to restaurant workers. Speaking
to the New York Post, a maitre d' at a swanky New York restaurant claimed that
Campbell was always rude to staff when she frequented the restaurant, saying -
"She was someone we dreaded coming in. She needed a lot
of attention. She sent back her food quite a few times."
The fashion industry is known for its promotion of unrealistic body ideals and,
indeed, body negativity. Therefore, it's understandable, albeit unfortunate,
that such ideation becomes ingrained in the models themselves. On numerous occasions,
Naomi Campbell has espoused extremely low-calorie diets.
In a 2013 chat with Heat, she promoted the idea of fasting once a week. Years later,
in 2019, she appeared on the British talk show "Lorraine," where she elaborated on her habit
of intermittent fasting. She revealed that she forgoes food entirely for a couple of days a week,
solely living on water or juice. However, she insisted that she doesn't starve
herself. According to The Sun, Campbell told an interviewer that she only eats one meal a day,
save for Sunday, when she treats herself to desserts, saying -
"I eat my lunch. Lunch is my dinner, because I really only eat once a day."
While intermittent fasting has gained popularity in recent years, there are still a lot of
questions about its supposed benefits. A 2022 study by the University of Toronto found there may
be a connection between intermittent fasting and disordered eating behaviors. It's unfortunate that
Campbell has lauded the benefits of such diets on numerous occasions. But as Harper's Bazaar notes,
the '90s supermodels are a product of a particularly toxic body-negative era,
one in which harmful fad diets and unrealistically thin bodies were promoted, and even worshiped.
If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault,
help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network
website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
If you need help with an eating disorder, or know someone who is, help is available. Visit
the National Eating Disorders Association website or contact NEDA's Live Helpline
at 1-800-931-2237. You can also receive 24/7 Crisis Support via text (send NEDA to 741-741).