Supermodel Naomi Campbell wins appeal against charity trustee ban

LONDON: Supermodel Naomi Campbell won her appeal on Thursday against a five-year ban from being a charity trustee, with a London tribunal ruling ​that the misuse of funds at the charity she founded had been ‌concealed from her.

Campbell, one of fashion’s most recognisable faces, founded Fashion for Relief in 2005, aiming to raise funds for humanitarian causes by staging runway shows.

But it was removed from the Charity ​Commission’s register in 2024 and Campbell banned as a trustee shortly afterward following ​complaints of mismanagement and misconduct.

The Charity Commission found widespread financial mismanagement, ⁠including money raised for good causes having been spent on spa treatments, cigarettes and ​room service when Campbell was staying at a five-star hotel near Cannes in southern ​France in May 2018.

A lawyer acting as a trustee for the charity also received around £290,000 ($382,771) in unauthorised payments for apparent consultancy fees.

Campbell, however, said she had no knowledge that charity funds were spent ​on her expenses and was deceived by another trustee about the unauthorised payments.

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Her appeal ​was allowed by the First-Tier Tribunal, which said in its ruling that there was “serious misconduct and ‌mismanagement” ⁠at Fashion for Relief, but that the unauthorised payments and misuse of funds were concealed from Campbell.

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

Campbell “did share ultimate ​responsibility for the charity’s ​failure to keep ⁠proper minutes and file its accounts on time”, the tribunal added, but ruled that did not mean she was unfit to ​be a charity trustee.

“I’m so grateful to the tribunal and the ​judges for ⁠taking the time to hear my side, look at the evidence and see the truth of what happened,” Campbell said in a statement.

The Charity Commission said it was considering ⁠if the ​ruling had “any wider implications for our work.”

“Because of ​our regulatory interventions to protect Fashion for Relief’s funds, other charities received almost £250,000 owed to them,” a Charity ​Commission spokesperson said.