Naomi Campbell’s charity commitments have been put on hold, after a U.K. commission alleged funds to her Fashion for Relief weren’t all going to humanitarian aid.
The Charity Commission, which registers and regulates charities in England and Wales, found Campbell’s charity to be “poorly governed” with “inadequate financial management” after a three-year investigation into the organization’s financial activities. The commission said it found several incidents of alleged “misconduct and/or mismanagement” and barred Campbell from serving as a charity trustee in England and Wales for five years.
The veteran supermodel founded Fashion for Relief in 2005. The charity said it has since raised more than $15 million in funds to support people impacted by humanitarian crises, including Hurricane Katrina, the war in Syria and natural disasters in Haiti and Japan. However, the charity was removed from the register of charities and the commission said in a Thursday announcement that it recovered more than 344,000 pounds ($460,000 U.S.) “and protected a further $[131,130] of charitable funds,” some of which were donated to two other charities.
The investigation alleged that from April 2016 to July 2022, only 8.5% of Fashion for Relief’s total expenditure went to charitable grants. There was no evidence that trustees “had reviewed the charity’s operating model to ensure fundraising methods were in the charity’s best interest.”
“It also found some of the charity’s fundraising expenditure was not reasonable,” the commission added.
The investigation details various expenditures including those for Campbell’s luxurious hotel accommodations — including spa treatments, room service “and the purchase of cigarettes and hotel products” — during a charity event at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.
“The Inquiry found that the trustees breached their legal duties … in respect of these payments, which constitutes misconduct and/or mismanagement in the charity’s administration by the trustees,” the report said.
In a statement, Tim Hopkins, the commission’s deputy director for specialist investigations and standards, said “trustees are legally required to make decisions that are in their charity’s best interests and to comply with their legal duties and responsibilities.”
He added: “Our inquiry has found that the trustees of this charity failed to do so, which has resulted in our action to disqualify them.”
Campbell, one of three trustees barred because of the investigation, said her team will also take a closer look at the findings.
“I was not in control of my charity, I put the control in the hands of a legal employer. We are investigating to find out what and how,” the 54-year-old fashion icon told press after she received an honor from France’s Order of Arts and Letters. “Everything I do and every penny I’ve ever raised goes towards charities.”
A representative for Campbell did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment.
The Associated Press contributed to his report.