Naomi Campbell defends role after charity trustee barring: I was not in control

British model Naomi Campbell has said she was “not in control” of her charity, following her disqualification from being a trustee for five years after a watchdog found charity funds were being mismanaged.

An inquiry into Fashion for Relief, a charity which says it was founded by Campbell in 2015, found serious mismanagement of funds.

Misconduct included using charity money to pay for Campbell’s stay at a five-star hotel in Cannes, France, as well as spa treatments, room service and cigarettes.

“I just found out today about the findings, and I’m extremely concerned, and we are investigating on our side as I was not in control of my charity, I put the control in the hands of a lawyer,” Campbell told reporters after she was made a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters at the French Ministry for Culture.

“And so we are investigating to find out what and how, as everything I do and every penny I ever raised goes towards charities.”

Campbell was one of three trustees to be disqualified as a result of the Charity Commission inquiry.

Bianka Hellmich has been disqualified as a trustee for nine years, and Veronica Chou for four years.

It means they are prevented from being a trustee or holding a senior management role in any charity in England and Wales during the length of the disqualification.

The Charity Commission, which registers and regulates charities in England and Wales, opened an inquiry into Fashion for Relief in 2021.

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

It had been set up with the aim of uniting the fashion industry to relieve poverty and advance health and education, by making grants to other organisations and giving resources towards global disasters.

It hosted fundraising events to generate income, including in Cannes and London.

The probe found that between April 2016 and July 2022, 8.5% of the charity’s overall expenditure was on charitable grants.

The inquiry saw no evidence that trustees took action to ensure fundraising methods were in the charity’s best interests, or that the money it spent was reasonable relative to the income it generated.

It also said it found some fundraising expenditure to be misconduct or mismanagement by the charity’s trustees.

This included a 14,800 euro (£12,300) flight from London to Nice for transferring art and jewellery to a fundraising event in Cannes in 2018.

In these cases, the trustees “failed to show how these were cost-effective and an appropriate use of the charity’s resources”, the Charity Commission said.

Furthermore, it examined expenses incurred by Campbell totalling nearly 7,940 euros (£6,600), alongside the hotel stay, paid for by the charity.

These costs included spa treatments, room service, and the purchase of cigarettes and hotel products.

The regulator said trustees explained that hotel costs were typically covered by a donor to the charity, therefore not costing the charity, but failed to provide any evidence to support this.

Representatives for Campbell have been contacted for comment.