Naomi Campbell has admitted she failed in her role as trustee for the Fashion For Relief charity. The 54-year-old model founded Fashion For Relief in 2005 but an investigation by the Charity Commission found just a small proportion of money raised by the foundation - which was dissolved and removed from the register of charities earlier this year - had benefitted the causes it was set up to help. Her spokesperson told The Guardian that Naomi “acknowledges and accepts her accountability” as trustee and added that while “may not have been as actively engaged in the charity’s day-to-day operations as she should have been”, she had “never engaged in any form of financial misconduct”.
A statement issued on Naomi's behalf said: "For over three decades, [Campbell] has dedicated herself tirelessly to charitable causes, always with the sole intention of helping others and never for personal gain. Naomi has never received payment for her involvement with Fashion for Relief, nor has she billed any personal expenses to the organisation.” The investigation, which opened in 2021, found charity funds had been used to pay for cigarettes, spa treatments, room service, and Naomi's stay at a five-star hotel in Cannes, and just 8.
5 per cent of Fashion For Relief's overall expenditure between April 2016 and July 2022 had gone on charitable grants. Naomi - who was one of three trustees to have been disqualified as a result of the probe - previously said she was "extremely concerned.