Naomi's Notorious Temper Haunts Her In Court
Sun Herald
Sunday February 17, 2002
MODELS Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss are laughing together in an open-top car.
``What did I call her?" asks Campbell. Moss replies: ``You called her an ugly bitch with the head of an alien."
Campbell bursts out laughing.
The supermodel has always been known for her explosive temper but last week the full force of it was brought to light in London's High Court. She is suing The Mirror newspaper for breach of confidence and invading her privacy after it published photos of her leaving a Narcotics Anonymous meeting in London.
The court was shown footage from a TV documentary, commissioned by Campbell, of her screaming at passengers on a jet. The documentary, covering her trip to South Africa, then cut to the exchange with Moss.
On Friday, Campbell was warned to expect only ``modest" damages.
The judge has told her lawyer any payment would be calculated on the level of proven distress Campbell experienced over the article.
Mr Justice Morland said: ``Any award of damages is likely to be modest, or very modest, and any damages awarded, whether primary or aggravated, will be entirely compensatory in nature, with no punitive element."
Earlier, Desmond Browne QC, for the newspaper's publishers, tried to link Campbell's famous tantrums to drug abuse.
Mr Browne asked the 31-year-old model about an American TV interview in which she said that she had never touched drugs.
``I did say that, and that was misleading and untrue," Campbell replied. In written evidence, she said she had recognised some time ago that she had a problem with ``illegal drugs". She started attending meetings of Narcotics Anonymous.
``The recognition I was addicted and the decision to seek professional help was the best decision I ever made in my life," she said.
``I attended Alcoholics Anonymous [which also assists drug addicts] and Narcotics Anonymous meetings ... It is not an easy thing to do, to go to meetings of NA to admit you are an addict and to discuss very personal matters about yourself in front of people, some of whom are complete strangers."
She said her friends and family knew about her addiction.
``I am a drug addict. Once you are an addict you are always an addict. Recovery is a lifelong process."
She had been attending the group's meetings for more than a year when, in January last year, The Mirror photographed her leaving a meeting.
``I was very distressed to read the article," she said. ``I felt very uncomfortable at the thought that someone close to me was disclosing private information about me."
Campbell said she felt harassed.
``I was panicking and worried," she said. ``I did not want to leave the house any longer. I began to think Narcotics Anonymous was not worthwhile and I questioned what was the point in trying to fight the addiction if this was the reaction. I felt judged and branded."
She said The Mirror's article, headlined ``Naomi: I am a drug addict", had left her ``shocked, angry, betrayed and violated".
``For the first time in a long while, I doubted myself and my resolve to go on," she said.
Mr Browne asked her if it was true she ``had made a practice of abusing illegal drugs" as far back as 1997.
She replied softly: ``Yes."
Mr Browne: ``[This is] a criminal offence with heavy penalties including imprisonment."
Campbell: ``Yes."
Mr Browne: ``As you might expect, that abuse of illegal drugs caused you medical problems."
Campbell: ``Yes."
Mr Browne: ``And it must surely have affected your behaviour."
Campbell: ``Yes."
Mr Browne: ``Would it be fair to say that your behaviour is notorious?"
After a long pause, Campbell replied: ``Yes."
Mr Browne: ``By which I mean you have a reputation for tantrums?"
After another long pause, she again replied: ``Yes."
Mr Browne also argued that Campbell had ``compromised the privacy of her personal life".
He said: ``For over a decade, she has courted publicity by trading interviews in which she provides glimpses of her private life normally about her current boyfriend in exchange for the opportunity to promote her latest commercial venture."
Campbell then said The Mirror had gone on to publish a series of ``vindictive articles" about her. One of the articles had referred to her as a ``chocolate soldier", which she considered racist. The paper used the term over her decision to model fur after working with animal rights group PETA.
The Mirror's editor Piers Morgan reacted angrily. ``I find her attempt to bring the race card into this case quite disgusting," he said.
The court was told that the expression ``chocolate soldier" was widely understood as a derogatory term meaning ``useless" and had been used by Australian soldiers for latecomers to Gallipoli.
Mr Morgan said Campbell had ``voraciously invaded her own privacy". He joked: ``If you are going into Hannibal Lecter's cage, you are going to get nibbled on the back of the neck."
The case is continuing.
© 2002 Sun Herald