Naomi Campbell hits out at ban over 'flawed' charity investigations

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Former supermodel Naomi Campbell hit back at a British regulator on Saturday after it banned her from running a charity for five years.

The Charity Commission found “several instances of misconduct” in the management of Fashion for Relief, including the use of charity money to fund her stay at a five-star hotel in the south of France, including spa treatments and room service.

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

“First and foremost, I acknowledge that as the face of Fashion for Relief, I am ultimately responsible for their conduct,” Campbell, 54, said in a statement released to the PA news agency late on Friday.

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

The monitoring research released on Thursday found that between April 2016 and July 2022, just 8.5 percent of Fashion for Relief's total spending went on grants to charities.

Campbell, 54, has now been banned from running a charity for five years. Two other trustees also received bans.

Campbell, who became the first black model to appear on the cover of British Vogue in 20 years in 1987, rose to global fame in the 1990s and remains a hugely influential figure in the industry.

She insisted she was “never paid a fee for my participation in Fashion for Relief, nor was the organization charged for any personal expenses.”

Campbell's charity, which she founded in 2005, hosted a series of glitzy, star-studded events to raise funds for charities in London and Cannes.

These included projects ranging from supporting refugee children to helping victims of the Ebola crisis and the 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami.

She said she is considering all options, including filing an appeal.

har/gv