Naomi Campbell, a British supermodel, has been forbidden from becoming a charity trustee in England and Wales for five years.
The Charity Commission announced the news on Thursday, when Campbell was in Paris.
According to the regulator, charitable gifts accounted for only 8.5% of the charity’s total expenditure for a six-year period beginning in 2016.
For example, it claimed that thousands of pounds in charity contributions were used to pay for Campbell’s stay in a luxury hotel in Cannes, France, as well as spa treatments, room service, and cigarettes.
The regulator sought explanations from the trustees but found no evidence to support their assertion that hotel costs were normally covered by a charity contributor, hence the charity did not incur any costs.
“I was not in control of my charity, I put the control in the hands of a legal lawyer,” she said right after receiving the prestigious Ordre des Arts et des Lettres award at the French Culture Ministry in Paris. “We are investigating to find out what and how, and everything I do and every penny I ever raised goes to charity.”
