UK watchdog bans Naomi Campbell from running charity over 'misconduct'

Former supermodel Naomi Campbell has been barred from running a charity after an inquiry found funds raised by an organisation she founded were spent on spa treatment and room service charges.

The inquiry into Fashion for Relief, released on Thursday, identified "multiple instances of misconduct", including use of charity money to pay for a five-star hotel stay for Campbell in the south of France.

The finding by the UK Charity Commission means Campbell, 54, has now been disqualified from running a charity for five years. Two other trustees also received bans.

The watchdog probe 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.

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

In June, an exhibition dedicated to her opened at London's Victoria and Albert Museum.

Speaking in Paris on Thursday after receiving an honour from the French government, the British celebrity denied any responsibility for the mishandling of donations.

"I was not in control of my charity. I put the control in the hands of a lawyer," she told reporters after she was made a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters.

The model added that she was "investigating to find out what and how -- as everything I do and every penny I ever raised goes towards charities".

Star-studded events

Campbell's charity held a string of glitzy, star-studded events to raise funds for good causes in London and Cannes.

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

One event in the French Riviera resort in 2017 was attended by over 1,000 guests including stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Antonio Banderas, Faye Dunaway, Jane Fonda and Uma Thurman.

A three-night hotel stay for a similar event in 2018 cost £7,800 ($10,400).

The Charity Commission said it saw no evidence the trustees had made sure that such costs were "reasonable".

The regulator also looked at additional expenses totalling £6,600 for Campbell's hotel stay, including spa treatments, room service and the purchase of cigarettes.

It said the trustees had argued hotel costs were usually met by a donor but failed to provide any supporting evidence.

"The commission concluded that there had been serious misconduct and/or mismanagement in the administration of the charity by the trustees since it was established," the report said.

Fashion for Relief was dissolved and removed from the register of charities earlier this year.

Set up in 2005, it described itself as "dedicated to improving the lives of those living in adversity by uniting the fashion industry as a force for good".