Hey Guys!
So today my friends and I got into a little debate during lunch about Naomi Campbell and her involvement with former Liberian President Charles Taylor:
It you don’t know the story, here’s the skinny: Charles Taylor is a dictator who is currently on trial for war crimes committed during Sierra Leone’s violent civil war. Charles is accused of using uncut diamonds to buy weapons for use in a conflict where an estimated 550,000 people were killed. While in South Africa in 1997, he allegedly met and flirted with Naomi Campbell, ultimately gifting her two uncut diamonds. Naomi initially denied receiving the diamonds, then refused to testify to help build a case against the dictator. Finally, when subpoenaed, she arrived late to court, stretched the truth a bit, then said being there was a big inconvenience.
Naomi’s diva attitude mixed with her lack of empathy for and awareness of the situation angered my friend who called Naomi an ‘embarrassment’ and said that she’d spit on Naomi if she saw her in person. Her main gripe? Naomi seemingly cared more about herself and her private time than the victims of the war (Taylor is accused of 5 counts of murder, rape, torture and sexual slavery, along with the use of child soldiers).
While I do not condone Naomi’s behavior, I thought my friend’s reaction was a bit extreme.This is Naomi Campbell. She’s a model whose job is to look beautiful, take care of her body, and parade the latest fashion on the runway. Aside from her looks, she’s best known for chucking blackberries and manhandling drivers. Sure she’s a public figure, but she’s already displayed that she’s a hot tempered and endlessly flawed human being. We’d love for her to do the right thing, issue a statement against the atrocities of the war, and cooperate. But the truth is she’s a fur wearing, diamond accepting model–not a role model.
Also there may have been other factors involved. Apparently she initially refused to testify out of fear for her family.
What do you think? Are people being too harsh on Naomi? Or does her behavior merit the backlash?
August 10, 2010 1:34 pm
you mean liberia.
August 10, 2010 1:48 pm
When it comes to this sort of thing, wars and rape, no one is too hard on anyone. Get to the bottom of it, I say. Children were involved and everyone should be held responsible! If she is innocent then God help her but all she is going through is a little media hounding, not getting her house burned down, not being raped, beaten, getting her family killed, or anything all those people (550,000+) went through. I am sorry for any pain she is feeling as a person but she has many blessings to count. I hope she can move forward, she’s beautiful. I also pray for Africa! So sad <3 Being black and in America, it's such an interesting feeling to think that maybe, with a little twist, I could be there and not here and what that would be like.
August 10, 2010 1:49 pm
I agree with you Claire, but in a small way also with your friend. Although, that is what Naomi Campbell has been known for, as a public figure, whether actress, model, civil rights activist,president, whoever, you are accepting a position which causes others to view you as a role model and time and time again Naomi lets us down.
It’s okay for her to be a flawed individual because by nature we all are, but MOST people strive to do and BE better. Naomi should try it instead of insisting on perpetuating her own childish, inconsiderate behavior.
August 10, 2010 2:01 pm
being a model does not absolve her of having empathy and human decency. people were murdered, raped, and had their childhoods taken away from them so this monster could stay in power. the way she behaved was disgraceful and self-centered. someone explained it to me this way, if she was a model during the nazi era and hitler gave her diamonds that were stolen from jews on their way to treblinka, wouldn’t the public be absolutely disgusted with her and describe her as a nazi sympathizer? as beautiful as naomi is, from what i’ve observed of her behavior, she has a rotten personality.
August 10, 2010 2:07 pm
To the ‘model’ point, though, maybe Naomi isn’t intelligent enough to realize how her actions impacted others. Ignorance obviously doesn’t absolve her from wrongdoing, but it could explain away a bit of her stankitude.
August 10, 2010 2:10 pm
I am going to agree with you on this Claire.. She received the diamonds in the middle of the night from a messenger as a gift from him. Yes she accepted them but when you are going up against someone who has made it a point to murder, rape and all out destroy all those who oppose him you have little choice in the matter. No one can say what they would do in the situation because it is not your life or family that is in danger. He is not in jail he is merely on trial and there are many that continue to do his bidding.
Naomi is a model, her job is to wear clothes and be a bitch not much else. Although I do think she has a moral responsibility to cooperate she also has a GOD given right to protect herself and her family because no one else is willing to do that.
August 10, 2010 2:56 pm
Umm yeah Naomi Campbell is a world class bitch whose only thought is for herself, from getting engaged to a married man, to abusing her assistants, tantrums and self absorptions this woman is a piece of vermin. As an African I find it pathetic that a rich, grown woman is ignorant, you don’t have to be a role model to know the difference between right and wrong.
August 10, 2010 3:08 pm
Naomi should not have been involved in this case. I agree with the defense’s statement in the article from the huffington post saying that she was just brought in as a publicity stunt. The real people who should be on trial are the one with millions in the bank from the blood diamonds…not Naomi.
August 10, 2010 3:47 pm
I love my Jamaican ppl and have been a fan of Naomi since I was a teenager. However, Naomi (and I’m not trying to be funny) needs to (GET SHE *SS BUST! She seems to be so flippin rude and condescending and always has her nose in the air. If I ever encountered Naomi and she was rude to me I’d get to kickin that *ss on the spot! Tear he knees up!
Sorry for the profanity but I don’t care who you are, a nasty person is a nasty person and I can’t help but feel that Naomi only treats the people she feels is someone (status/$$$) with respect but the average person she treats as if they are a fly buzzing around her ear. She is (IMO) RUDE!
August 10, 2010 3:52 pm
michelle- you’re joking right? she’s not on trial. she’s a WITNESS who initally refused to testify against a mass murdering war criminal. she was called to testify to show that charles taylor had access to blood diamonds. charles taylor used blood diamonds to buy weapons to hold on to his dictatorship.
August 10, 2010 4:43 pm
Yeah, that was a typo.
My point was in the bigger picture diamond traders, financial institutions, arms manufacturers etc should be accountable for fueling the war. That’s what I was getting at…
August 10, 2010 4:55 pm
im with zimbabwechic, totally agree with what she has to say.
August 10, 2010 5:02 pm
Who care’s how she’s feeling. i was in that War thank God i made it thru. i just want dis to b ova lost a lot & dis is just bring back pains. She should go to Sierra leone & C how much ppl r still suffering coz of the war & how most of dem got no hands, legs & r homeless ! It’s too sad ! I don’t like dis at all if she is lieing God will jugde her & she will not succeed in wat eva she does ! I surely don’t care but her F’ing feelings ! I wish dey both could feel our pains ! dirty stone’s ! Million died coz of that ! & she sit’s & called it dirty stone’s stupid ho !. Some Africans kind of forget their roots when dey get that lil spot light ! As for taylor I pray he die knowing wat he did to My people. & i pray he pays for what he did !
August 10, 2010 5:33 pm
oh yea..and i hope she ends up serving some jail time..im getting tired of her im better than everyone attitude…ugh
August 10, 2010 6:22 pm
Co sign with Esme. Naomi Campbell should be ashamed of herself. What a disgrace!
There is no defending her refusal to cooperate and respect the court. What a selfish woman.
August 10, 2010 6:41 pm
On other issues Naomi can be an out of line bitch, but here I think she is right. Who knows what kind of relationship she had/has with this obviously powerful man and what harm he could have done to her and her family. She has the right to keep her mouth shut if she wants to. If it weren’t a big deal she wouldn’t have lied in the first place or refused to show up to court.
August 10, 2010 7:07 pm
Oh please lol. Naomi is the personification of everything that people detest about the rich and or famous. She’s vapid, selfish, uncaring, entitled and self-centered. In her 20′s this wasn’t so bad because she was young, but she has not grown AT ALL. At 40 years old she’s still the same vapid person she’s always been. She does’t care about these people’s lives or suffering. She didn’t even want to testify to assist in getting justice for all of the injustices this man has committed. Then she blatantly lies about what took place on the night in question. She knew those were diamonds and she knew who they were from.
If she was so concerned about harm coming to her family she wouldn’t have been involved with this man in the first place. He didn’t give Mia Farrow or anyone else present any diamonds. Clearly him and Naomi had some type of relationship. I just don’t think she cares about anyone else. She even showed up late to the trial and had an obvious attitude while testifying.
August 10, 2010 9:29 pm
If Naomi Campbell were white or even a little lighter, would there be so much animosity against her? I don’t see any self-righteous, “moral behavior” comments on Kim Kardashian whose claim to fame is a sex tape.
Anyway, yes everyone OD’es on Naomi Campbell. She wasn’t a witness to this crime and probably knows nothing about it. Naomi is just an attractive model that this guy gave some precious jewels to, she didn’t see anything or hear anything and she’s not even a native of Sierra Leone. So why would she be brought in as a witness? This whole case is fishy and someone is using Naomi as a pawn to cover their indiscretions. If Naomi is involved in war crimes, then I’m the 2nd coming. The mere assertion is utterly ridiculous.
If you hate Naomi that much become her assistant and when she smacks you, smack her back. #thatisall
August 10, 2010 9:46 pm
@loudpen- i know you’re not equating a sex tape with refusing to testify against a war criminal who’s guilty of crimes against humanity. please inform yourself and know what the hell you’re talking about before you speak. no one is accusing naomi campbell of war crimes or being involved in war crimes. and at the time she may not have known what charles taylor was doing or had a complete understanding of who he was. i will give her that. THE REASON NAOMI CAMPBELLL WAS CALLED AS A WITNESS IS BECAUSE THE PROSECUTION HAS VERY FEW OBVIOUS CONNECTIONS OF CHARLES TAYLOR TO BLOOD DIAMONDS. if she testifies that she was given diamonds as a gift by charles taylor, it’s evidence that he had access to blood diamonds, which he used to buy munitions to commit mass murder and hold onto his dictatorship. the reason that people are angry with her is because by now she KNOWS the full picture of who he is and what injustices he has committed and still intially refused to testify and then when she did testify she referred to it as an inconvience and lied about what she received from charles taylor on the stand. her behavior was despicable. don’t compare thousands of people raped and murdered with a sex tape. okay?
August 11, 2010 10:13 am
Why is everybody going on about naomi, what about the jews who get these blood diamonds in exchange for arms, jews from Amsterdam, and brussels, and isreal why are they not accountable for wars that they support to firnest they GREED, they are the main culprits in this story, Naomi is just a red herring in this fiasko. WHO IS FINANCING THE WARS AROUND THE WORLD. Charles Taylor was not the only black man at that dinner, it could be any man, naomi is a beautifull woman, a world citizen, and men love her, The two women that lied about naomi are the scruff of the earth.
August 11, 2010 10:21 am
Using a sex tape to become famous and promote yourself is a ridiculous act that Kim decided to do herself. Naomi has the right to protect her family and since the diamonds were a gift, how was she to know where they came from? Seriously, the diamonds weren’t even given to her by the president directly so how was she to know how and where he got them? All she knows is he gave her a gift and probably swore her to secrecy. And honestly, if she tells all she knows, who is going to protect her and her family? Even if dude gets locked up, his people will want revenge for her opening her mouth and exposing what little she does know. So I’m saying if Naomi won’t tell the truth then the prosecution should find someone else. Surely, they have someone better than a famous model who apparently only met the man a few times?
The reason I made the comparison to Kim Kardashianis because she gets to parade around half-dressed and screwing rich men and no one says anything bad about her. But Naomi a woman of Jamaican descent gets constantly judged and ppl talk about her like she’s the devil on earth. Kim acts are just despicable because she was directly involved in an explicit act for the world to see. Naomi didn’t kill or hurt anyone so why should she put her life and her family’s life in danger? All I’m saying is if this man had the power to kill thousands of people then he can do the same with Naomi and her family. So please don’t sit around and rant about my comment in all caps when I was simply expressing my opinion.
August 11, 2010 12:24 pm
@ Loudpen
I am so with you on this, from the point the media backlash began I have always said there is a racist element to it, and you have just said out all my thoughts.
LEAVE NAOMI ALONE !
August 12, 2010 12:16 am
Wow!!! Honestly I don’t think there’s anything wrong with expressing opinions and we all know how media’s influence opinions and bhow they have been on beautiful Naomi’s case forEVER but hell comparing her to Kim kardashian come off very ignorant.. as far as the world is concerned not a mosquito has been killed because Kim spread her legs on tape.. Naomi made it to the top not just because she is gorgeous millions of women are far prettier than she will ever be but would never be as successful.. Naomi is smarter than a lot of you seem to insinuate.. but she is also cold and selfish. Its common sense that the court would have worked out something with her if she was willing to help thousands of people rest in peace her name would not be in the tabloids but opted for this publicity stunt I guess no one Ever told her that all publicity is not good publicity and sometimes it involves more than ur own little self.
August 12, 2010 12:56 am
loudpen- oh please your “opinion” and commentary was completely uninformed and you know it. and i’m sure the people prosecuting charles taylor would offer naomi protection if she requested it. and why wasn’t mia farrow, another celebrity, not afraid to to testify that naomi told her that she was had gotten a large diamond from charles taylor? naomi openly said herself, testifying against a war criminal is inconvienient to her and i’m sorry, i think that’s selfish, inhumane, and cruel. and really, you are totally out of line to compare naomi’s petulant, selfish refusal to testify against a war criminal to a SEX TAPE. you are DIMINISHING the suffering of the people of sierra leone and liberia. nobody was killed as a result of kim doing a sex tape, but people were raped, kidnapped, and killed by naomi’s friend charles taylor. if naomi did a sex tape and was judged more harshly then kim kardsahian for doing one, then yes, i’d agree with you that the situation was racist, but these two situations are not even analogous, so what are you talking about? as i said, google up a news article or something and educate yourself.