Naomi Campbell’s philanthropic image just took a major hit.
According to The Guardian, the 54-year-old supermodel has been barred from serving as a charity trustee in England and Wales. The five-year ban was implemented after a United Kingdom watchdog group found evidence of financial misconduct within Fashion for Relief — a now-defunct charitable organization Campbell founded in 2015.
Officials with the Charity Commission for England and Wales determined that between April 2016 and July 2022, less than nine percent of Fashion for Relief’s spending went toward philanthropic causes. A large portion of the funds, which were raised through star-studded events, were allegedly used to pay for Campbell’s luxury hotel stays, private security, and spa treatments.
Campbell’s fellow trustees Bianka Hellmich and Veronica Chou, were also banned from holding trustee roles for nine and four years, respectively. The former allegedly violated the charity’s constitution by receiving $385,000 for consultancy services.
Officials said Fashion for Relief failed to demonstrate how the expenses and unauthorized payments “were cost-effective and an appropriate use of the charity’s resources.”
“Trustees are legally required to make decisions that are in their charity’s best interests and to comply with their legal duties and responsibilities,” said Tim Hopkins, the Charity Commission’s assistant director for specialist investigations and standards. “Our inquiry has found that the trustees of this charity failed to do so, which has resulted in our action to disqualify them.”
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As a result of the investigation, Hopkins and his team recovered roughly $460,000 and protected about $131,400 more. Those funds were reportedly been used to cover Fashion for Relief’s outstanding liabilities and to pay Save the Children and the Mayor’s Fund for London — two charitable organizations that reported Fashion for Relief to regulators in 2021.
Fashion for Relief dissolved more than two years after the investigation kicked off.
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