Naomi Campbell slams 'misleading' report after she is banned as charity trustee (2024)

Naomi Campbell has responded after being banned from operating as a trustee for charities.

The 54-year-old supermodel was disqualified after an investigation by the Charity Commission found a ‘serious mismanagement of finances’ involving the now-dissolved charity Fashion for Relief.

Now the model has criticised the report as ‘incomplete and misleading’ in a new statement.

‘After carefully reviewing the Charity Commission’s report concerning Fashion for Relief (UK), I find their conclusions to be incomplete and misleading in their consideration of evidence,’ she told PA.

Although she recognised that, as the face of Fashion for Relief, she was ‘ultimately responsible for its conduct’, she added that she was not involved in ‘day-to-day operations of the organisation’.

She continued: ‘I entrusted the legal and operational management to others.

‘I want to assure everyone who has supported us that these findings are being taken very seriously. I have instructed new advisers to undertake a detailed investigation of what transpired.’

She also reiterated that she has ‘never undertaken philanthropic work for personal gain.’

‘I’ve dedicated nearly 30 years of my life to charitable initiatives and I care deeply about the value and impact of the work I do,’ she added.

In a further rebuttal to the claims made in the report, she explained that she had always endeavoured to align her charity work that required travel and accommodation with ‘paid assignments’ and would personally cover costs where not possible.

‘In terms of the specific hotel expense mentioned in the report, the hotel has confirmed that all charges were settled by my personal travel agent,’ she stated, adding it was then further ‘verified’.

She concluded that the report was ‘deeply flawed’.

The media personality was one of the charity’s three trustees who is now banned, with the block in place on Campbell for five years.

The probe found that between April 2016 and July 2022, just 8.5% of the charity’s overall expenditure was on charitable grants.

On top of this, the Charity Commission unearthed what has been called ‘unreasonable fundraising expenditure’ to the tune of €9,400 (£7,800).

This included a three-night stay in a five-star hotel in Cannes for Campbell, as well as other funds spent on cigarettes, spa treatments, and room service.

Fashion for Relief was founded in 2005 by Campbell and aimed to unite the fashion industry, focusing on targeting poverty, advancing health, and providing education.

This was said to be done by making grants to other organisations and giving resources towards global disasters.

The charity was removed from the register earlier this year and some £344,000 has been recovered and a further £98,000 of charitable funds protected, the regulator said.

The body found no evidence that trustees acted to ensure fundraising methods were in the charity’s best interests or that expenditure was reasonable when compared to the income it generated.

It also branded some spending misconduct or mismanagement, including a £12,300 flight from London to Nice for transferring art and jewellery to a fundraiser in Cannes, and Naomi’s £7,800 three-night stay at a five-star hotel, during which she also clocked up almost £6,600 in expenses.

According to the investigators, the trustees ‘failed to show how these were cost-effective and an appropriate use of the charity’s resources.’

Naomi Campbell's previous legal issues

Naomi Campbell has been in legal trouble four times between 1998 and 2009 for physical assault.

1998 – In September 1998, she was accused of beating her personal assistant Georgina Galanis while filming a movie in Toronto. Galanis claimed her boss grabbed her by the throat and hit her on the head with a phone.

Three months later, Campbell was arrested and the charge of causing bodily harm was dropped to assault. Given her lack of a criminal record, the model was given an absolute discharge and no criminal record but asked to attend anger management courses.

2007 – Campbell was accused of throwing her phone at former housekeeper Ana Scolavino. She pleaded guilty to reckless assault and apologised to the housekeeper, but added it was an accident.

She served her five days of community service in designer outfits, including a silver sequined $300,000 Dolce & Gabbana gown for the final day. Her sentence also included an anger management course and a fine.

2008 – A particularly impressive scuffle saw Campbell hold up a flight for an hour after her bags —containing a dress she was contracted to wear — were not loaded onto her flight out of Heathrow Terminal 5.

The captain had apologised to her personally, sparking an outburst from the model. She ended up being removed by officers, two of whom she injured while trying to break free. She then spat an officers and called them ‘racist’.

Campbell was fined £2,300, ordered to do 200 hours of community service and pay £200 compensation to each of the officers she attackedand the pilot.

2009 -In an altercation with a member of the paparazzi, Campbell ended up scratching the victim’s eye with her handbag, which she had hit him with.

He then needed medical treatment and Campbell pleaded guilty. Although the photographer decided to drop the charges, the Sicilian court went ahead. She received a six month suspended prison sentence.

Tim Hopkins, who was part of the investigations team, said in a statement: ‘Trustees are legally required to make decisions that are in their charity’s best interests and to comply with their legal duties and responsibilities.

‘Our inquiry has found that the trustees of this charity failed to do so, which has resulted in our action to disqualify them.’

As well as Naomi’s five-year ban, Bianka Hellmich received a nine-year disqualification and Veronica Chou can’t serve as a trustee for four years.

The trio will be unable to be a trustee or hold a senior management position with any charity in England and Wales during the period of their bans.

This isn’t the supermodel’s first brush with legal issues as she has been convicted of assault multiple times over her career.

Her first conviction was in 1998 when she pleaded guilty in court to assaulting her former assistant, receiving absolute discharge at the time.

The last of her four assault charges was in 2009, when she hit a photographer with her handbag which scratched his eye, taking two days to recover.

Campbell received a six-month suspended prison sentence despite the paparazzo withdrawing charges as the court decided to proceed.

Metro.co.uk has reached out to The Charity Commission for comment.

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Naomi Campbell slams 'misleading' report after she is banned as charity trustee (1)

Naomi Campbell slams 'misleading' report after she is banned as charity trustee (2024)

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