Naomi Campbell breaks silence on ban: 'I wasn't in control of my trustee'

British Supermodel Naomi Campbell has stated that she was "not in control" of her charity after being barred from serving as a trustee for five years by the Charity Commission due to gross financial mismanagement.

The 54-year-old model started Fashion For Relief, a nonprofit that combines fashion and philanthropy in 2005, but an inquiry discovered that only a small amount of the money got to actual good causes.

Fashion For Relief was disbanded and withdrawn from the charity register earlier this year.

Campbell's stay at a five-star hotel in Cannes, France, as well as spa treatments, room service, and cigarettes, were all paid for with charity donations, indicating misconduct.

Campbell is one of the three charity trustees who have been disqualified as a result of the probe.

The Charity Commission, which registers and supervises charities in England and Wales, initiated an investigation into Fashion For Relief in 2021.

The charity's purpose was to provide grants to other organisations as well as resources for worldwide calamities in order to alleviate poverty and develop health and education.

It held fundraising events to earn revenue, including in Cannes and London.

However, between April 2016 and July 2022, charitable grants accounted for only 8.5% of the charity's total expenditure.

Campbell stated that she was "extremely concerned" about the findings and that she was conducting an investigation.

She said, "I was not in control of my charity, I put the control in the hands of a legal employer," she said, after being named a Knight in France's Order of Arts and Letters at the country's culture ministry for her contribution to French culture.