Naomi Campbell lashes out at ‘flawed’ charity probe after ban

LONDON – Former supermodel Naomi Campbell on Sept 28 hit back at a British watchdog after it banned her from running a charity for five years.

The Charity Commission identified “multiple instances of misconduct” in the running of Fashion for Relief including use of charity money to pay for her to stay in a five-star hotel in France, including spa treatments and room service.

But Ms Campbell called the findings “deeply flawed” and said she instructed new advisers to investigate what happened at the charity.

“First of all, I recognise that, as the face of Fashion for Relief, I am ultimately responsible for its conduct,” Ms Campbell, 54, said in a statement released on Sept 27 to the PA news agency.

“Unfortunately, I was not involved in the day-to-day operations of the organisation, and I entrusted the legal and operational management to others,” she added.

The probe findings published on Sept 26 found that between April 2016 and July 2022, only 8.5 per cent of Fashion for Relief’s overall expenditure went on grants to charities.

Ms Campbell has now been disqualified from running a charity for five years. Two other trustees also received bans.

Ms Campbell, who in 1987 became the first black model in 20 years to feature on the cover of UK Vogue, achieved worldwide fame in the 1990s and remains highly influential in the industry.

She insisted she had “never been paid a fee for my participation in Fashion for Relief nor billed any personal expenses to the organisation”.

Her charity, which she set up in 2005, held star-studded events to raise funds in London and Cannes.

The causes were said to include projects from supporting child refugees to helping victims of the Ebola crisis to the 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami.

She said she is considering all options including requesting an appeal. AFP