While on the press tour for her new NSFW tome with Taschen named Art of Beauty(slated for April 7 release), Naomi Campbell appeared on Sway In The Morning to talk all things pop culture. But between effusing her love for Kanye West’s Life of Pablo album and Rihanna’s “On The Brain” record from Anti, the supermodel got serious when things turned to Ashley Graham and her Cheryl Tiegs controversy.
Back in February, Tiegs said that she didn’t like that full-figured women were being included in the modeling industry. A former model herself, Tiegs says that when the industry includes those models “it’s glamorizing them, and your waist should be smaller than 35.” She understandably caught a big of flack for it.
On her Sway interview, Campbell was asked for her thoughts. “How does she know that?” the icon said when Sway explained that Tiegs called Graham unhealthy. “I would never make a comment like that. I think it’s way too personal: I don’t know what Ashley eats. It’s not that just because you’re bigger it means you are eating tons of food. I have tons of friends that are bigger, it could be a hormone problem.”
For some, that last point was the beginning of a bad road for Campbell’s thoughts.
“I don’t think that Ashley’s big like that; she’s not obese.” Some outlets have transcribed her words as “she’s not a beast.” Campbell went on to say: “I think sometimes our bones are bigger and we’re just built that way. That doesn’t mean she’s fat.”
After elaborating on the point Campbell summarized her thought succinctly: “I think she’s a beautiful woman and no matter what color or creed, she should be able to model.”
See the full interview on the video below.
What do you think of Campbell’s thoughts?