LONDON — Former supermodel Naomi Campbell has been banned from running a charity after an investigation found that funds raised by the organization she founded were used to pay for spa treatments and room service. An investigation into Fashion for Relief announced on Thursday identified “several instances of misconduct”, including the use of charity funds to pay for Ms Campbell’s stay at a five-star hotel in the south of France. Ta.
The UK Charity Commission’s findings mean Mr Campbell, 54, is disqualified from running a charity in the UK for five years. Two other trustees were also suspended.
The watchdog’s research found that between April 2016 and July 2022, just 8.5% of Fashion for Relief’s total spending went to grants to charities.
Campbell, who became the first black model to appear on the cover of British Vogue in 20 years in 1987, achieved worldwide fame in the 1990s and remains an influential figure in the industry.
In June, an exhibition dedicated to her opened at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum.
Campbell says, “I left control to my lawyer.”
Speaking in Paris on Thursday after receiving an honor from the French government, the British celebrity denied any responsibility for the mishandling of donations.
“I wasn’t in control of my charity work. I put control in the hands of my lawyers,” she told reporters after being knighted in the Order of Arts and Letters. The model added: “Everything I do and all the money I raise goes to charity, so I’m just looking into what and how.”
Campbell’s charity has held a series of glitzy, star-studded events in London and Cannes to raise money for good causes. These are said to include projects ranging from supporting child refugees to supporting victims of the Ebola crisis and Japan’s 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
One event at the French Riviera resort in 2017 was attended by more than 1,000 guests, including stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Antonio Banderas, Faye Dunaway, Jane Fonda and Uma Thurman.
Three nights in a hotel at a similar event in 2018 cost about $10,400.
The Charity Commission said it found no evidence that trustees had confirmed that such costs were “reasonable”.
The regulator also investigated additional costs totaling £6,600 (about $8,800) for Ms Campbell’s hotel stay, including spa treatments, room service and the purchase of cigarettes.
The report said the trustees claimed that hotel costs are typically covered by donors, but provided no supporting evidence.
“The committee concluded that there had been serious misconduct and mismanagement by the trustees in the management of the charity since its establishment,” the report said.
Fashion for Relief was disbanded earlier this year and removed from the charity register.
Founded in 2005, the organization describes itself as “dedicated to improving the lives of people living in adversity by uniting the fashion industry as a force for good.”
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