USA: Supermodel Naomi Campbell is arrested in New York after an alleged argument with her housekeeper

Record ID: 186934

  • Title: USA: Supermodel Naomi Campbell is arrested in New York after an alleged argument with her housekeeper
  • Date: 6th April 2006
  • Summary: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (MARCH 30, 2006) (REUTERS) CAMPBELL'S ATTORNEY DAVID BREITBART (ON THE PHONE); TALKING TO REPORTERS (SOUNDBITE) (English) DAVID BREITBART, SUPERMODEL NAOMI CAMPBELL'S ATTORNEY, SAYING: "She found things that were missing and this particular individual was going to be separated, and as a result of which, we have also seen the tactic known as the best defence is a good offence and I think that's what we are looking at here." CAMPBELL'S ATTORNEY TALKING TO REPORTERS (SOUNDBITE) (English) DAVID BREITBART, SUPERMODEL NAOMI CAMPBELL'S ATTORNEY, SAYING: "This is the first day of the case, the first day the important thing to do is to get the client out of custody, we're going to be doing that in court later on and then the investigation begins. Mr. Charles is going to be intimately involved, we're going to find out what more we can about who the accuser is, which is a very very important question, who the accuser is and why is she accusing Naomi Campbell, is it because she is an affluent star of enormous proportions, if she had been fired from another job, would she be bringing these outrageous cases? We've all seen this."
  • Embargoed: 21st April 2006 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVA62GHD3YBN0WT8ESDLTS3SYJJO
  • Story Text: Supermodel Naomi Campbell was arrested at her Park Avenue home on Thursday (March 30) after getting into an argument with a woman. Charges were pending, a police spokeswoman said.
    Campbell, at the age of 35, still one of the biggest names in fashion, was fingerprinted, photographed at a police station in a midtown, where her statement was also recorded. She left the station smiling even as a slew of reporters ribbed her. She then drove off in a silver colored car.
    After Campbell left the police station, her attorney, David Breitbart, spoke to reporters about the supermodel's former housekeeper, the person who is believed to have filed charges against her. Breitbart said that the housekeeper had recently been fired after the model found some items missing from her house. He believed that the firing led the housekeeper to retaliate with charges against the model.
    "She (Campbell) found things that were missing and this particular individual was going to be separated, and as a result of which, we have also seen the tactic known as the best defence is a good offence and I think that's what we are looking at here," Breitbart explained.
    Campbell's agent, Amanda Silverman, has also said that the arrest appeared to be related to the model firing her housekeeper.
    After leaving the police station, Campbell was to be taken court for arraignment. This is not the first time the British-born Campbell has had troubles with the law -- in February 2000 she pleaded guilty in a Canadian court to assaulting her former assistant, and was given an absolute discharge, meaning her record was cleared.
    After that incident, in which she assaulted her assistant Georgina Galanis with a telephone, she blamed her fiery temper on lingering resentment toward her father for abandoning her as a child.
    Campbell, who grew up in South London, said that her father abandoned the family before she was born and her mother was often gone because she worked long hours to send her daughter to prestigious schools to study singing, drama and ballet.
    "I've not always displayed my anger in the appropriate time," she said in a 2000 TV interview in which she said she had attended a U.S. clinic to help manage her anger. "It's a manifestation of a deeper issue, I think. And that, to me, I think is based on insecurity, self-esteem and loneliness."
    Campbell has also admitted to drug use in the past. In 2004 she won a British court battle with a tabloid newspaper that was found to have invaded her privacy by running a story saying, correctly, that she had visited Narcotics Anonymous.
    Breitbart while continuing to defend Campbell and denying the charges of assault, said that the model's spirits were high.
    "This is the first day of the case, the first day the important thing to do is to get the client out of custody, we're going to be doing that in court later on and then the investigation begins. Mr. Charles is going to be intimately involved, we're going to find out what more we can about who the accuser is, which is a very very important question, who the accuser is and why is she accusing Naomi Campbell, is it because she is an affluent star of enormous proportions, if she had been fired from another job, would she be bringing these outrageous cases? We've all seen this," he said.
    Breitbart expressed the hope that Campbell would still be able to travel to Africa the coming weekend for a charity event with Nelson Mandela.
    Spotted on the streets of London's Covent Garden when she was just 15, Campbell was the first black model to appear on the covers of the French and British editions of Vogue magazine. Nearly 20 years later she remains one of the biggest names in fashion, sought after by the top designers to grace their shows in New York, Paris and Milan.
    She has also acted in several movies, tried her hand at singing and launched her own cosmetics range. She has also published a ghostwritten novel called "Swan," about a supermodel who is blackmailed.
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