Naomi Campbell wins appeal against charity trustee ban

Naomi Campbell won an appeal against a five-year ban on serving as a charity trustee after a London tribunal ruled that the misuse of funds at the charity she founded took place without the British supermodel’s knowledge, Reuters reported.

Campbell, one of the best-known figures in the fashion industry, founded Fashion For Relief in 2005 to raise money for humanitarian causes through fashion shows, CE Report quotes AGERPRES.

However, the charity was removed from the Charity Commission’s register in 2024, and Campbell was banned from serving as a trustee shortly afterwards following findings of financial mismanagement and misconduct.

The Charity Commission found widespread financial mismanagement, including the use of some money raised for charitable purposes to pay for spa treatments, cigarettes and room-service bills while Campbell was staying at a five-star hotel near Cannes in southern France in May 2018.

A lawyer who served as a trustee of the charity also received approximately £290,000 ($382,771) in unauthorized payments, apparently in the form of consultancy fees.

Campbell maintained, however, that she was unaware that the charity’s funds had been used to cover her expenses. She also said that another trustee had misled her about the unauthorized payments.

Her appeal was upheld by the First-tier Tribunal, which said in its ruling that there had been “serious misconduct and mismanagement” at Fashion For Relief, but that the unauthorized payments and misuse of funds had occurred without Campbell’s knowledge.

The tribunal also found that Campbell “was not responsible for the improper use of the charity’s resources or for any unjustified expenditure” during her stay at the hotel in 2018.

The tribunal added that Campbell “shared ultimate responsibility for the charity’s failure to keep proper minutes and file its accounts on time,” but concluded that this did not make her unsuitable to serve as a charity trustee.

A spokesperson for the British supermodel and representatives of the Charity Commission did not immediately comment.

Photo: Instagram/naomi