Episode 67: Supermodel Naomi Campbell
Naomi is the definition of a supermodel, ruling the runway with her signature swagger. She was discovered in London at age 14. She was the first black model to grace the covers of French Vogue and Time Magazine. She became a runway It Girl for top designers like Yves Saint Laurent. She launched dozens of beauty campaigns and featured in pop videos. Her glamorous life and relationships were highly documented in the press, but then came a secret cocaine addiction. Then came the infamous bad behaviors which tarnished her reputation. Today she says that she is a work in progress, trying to face her demons. She’s in love and living in Moscow with her Russian real-estate mogul. After 25 years in the business she is still a top cover model, giving models half her age a run for their money.
Naomi comes on stage and they hug. Naomi is a little nervous, Oprah says don’t be nervous, its just those two and millions of others. Oprah says that she has wanted to do this interview forever. Oprah says that Naomi looks 25, not 40. Naomi will be 40 in May- this is what you want 40 to look like, says Oprah. Naomi says that she has lived a good and reckless life and she has thought before that she wouldn’t reach 40. Oprah asks when Naomi lives this glamorous life, how does it feel? Naomi says that it is lonely, even though you are surrounded by others. Sometimes she doesn’t want to walk on a red carpet. She says it’s like they don’t have feelings but they are human.
Naomi’s temper tantrums have caused problems. In 2000, she was convicted of hitting her former assistant on the head with a cell phone and threatening to throw her out a moving car. Six years later she threw her jewel-encrusted Blackberry at her housekeeper over a missing pair of jeans. She was ordered to attend anger management classes and do community service, she mopped floors at a Department of Sanitation garage. A year later she admitted to swearing, hitting and kicking police officers aboard a British Airways flight and was sentenced to 200 hours of community service. Two months ago she was accused of slapping her chauffeur in New York City. Two days later he retracted the allegations. During a recent interview on ABC News her temper flared again when asked about a blood diamond. She allegedly walked out of the interview and punched the camera.
Oprah asks her what happened. Naomi says that there were added sound effects- she moved a camera out the way to get to the door. She did not want to answer the questions, she was a guest of Nelson Mandela at the same time as Charles Taylor was a guest. Naomi does not want to put her family in danger by talking about Charles Taylor who has done some terrible things.
Oprah asks Naomi what in the moment is going on when she gets mad? Naomi says that she trusts her people 110% and when they do something against her… She threw the phone at her housekeeper, but she never had a jewel-encrusted Blackberry. She says that she sees red. It wasn’t about jeans, Naomi doesn’t remember what the housekeeper said. Naomi took responsibility for the actions and she feels shame. She knows that she has done wrong. Oprah asks again what it is that Naomi feels when she doesn’t get what she wants? Naomi sees red and acts out, she doesn’t see anything then. Immediately afterwards she feels ashamed and remorseful.
She says that she is disappointed by people she trusts, but Oprah points out that it is sometimes strangers. Naomi says that she has anger issues. Oprah asks if she is just a petulant diva who wants things her own way? Naomi says that it comes from a deeper place, a deeper kind of emotional disorder. It comes from an abandonment issue and trying to build up a family around her that is not her real family. It’s not an excuse, she doesn’t have an excuse. It is not the person that she wants to be. She did her community service dressed as a supermodel, which was intentional. Naomi was working and doing a shoot. Her intention was not to turn it into a fashion shoot. She mopped the floor and cleaned offices and walls. She wore boots. She worked from 8-4 each day and it was humbling for her. It was humiliating for her but it was her own fault. Naomi says that she is in fashion and she likes clothes, she dressed for community service just like she dresses.
As one of the Big 6 models, Naomi Campbell had reached superstardom. No one knew that her recreational drug use had turned into a cocaine habit. Her lowest point was showing up at a photoshoot so wasted that she collapsed with wild sobs. In 1999 she checked into rehab. After 2 years of living as a recovering addict, a tabloid published photographs of her leaving a Narcotics Anonymous meeting. Naomi sued the tabloid and won, the crowd applaud. Bravo to you says Oprah. Naomi started cocaine when she was 24, she had always been against it. She did three jobs a day and she never needed a dealer, it was just handed to her. After Johnny Versace died in 1990, followed by many other friends passing away, she felt that she couldn’t keep up with the grief so she replaced it with drugs. Oprah repeats that sentiment. Naomi says that she turned up to do a job and she collapsed, she couldn’t stand. A friend of hers who is now a counselor took her to her house in Italy and left the number for a doctor. She called 10 minutes later. Naomi has been sober from drugs for 6 years and from alcohol for 1 1/2 years. The crowd applaud. Oprah asks if she is working on her anger management. Naomi says that she would not be held hostage to her past, after the cab driver said that she hit him. She doesn’t normally issue statements but this time she did.
She goes to meetings and therapy to try and deal with her anger issues. Her mom in the audience says that it has been hard to watch Naomi’s dramas unfold. Her mom was 19 when she had her child and she was a single mom. She left to give her daughter a better life to give her a private education. Looking back, she realized that material possessions are not all that a child needs. Oprah says that many mothers make this mistake that material things are not the answer. What every child wants is her mother. Naomi cries and Oprah calls for a Kleenex and says that they’ll go to break.
Oprah wants to say that Naomi Campbell went into the ugly cry. Naomi says that she understands the sacrifice that her mom made. She says that she is striving to be a better person and to find peace. The crowd applaud. Oprah says that Maya Angelou has a wonderful phrase that she herself has adopted- “when you know better, you do better.” Oprah says that we are all a work in progress. Oprah says that from the outside Naomi’s life looks extraordinary, but that she needs to spend more time on the internal world. Naomi says that rehabilitation allowed her to spend a month just on herself, which she has never done. Oprah says that it is a daily work. Naomi says that it is a surrender, and that she is religious and spiritual person. When she lets go of the cards and lets them fall, things are much calmer.
Oprah wants to talk about the men in Naomi’s life. Naomi says that sometimes she only has to stand next to someone to be linked to them. Oprah asks if she has ever dated a poor man. Yes, a working class man like herself, she says. A man in the arts she says. Naomi says that she is in a fame circle and you see the same people over and over. Oprah talked with Bono about how men become like putty around Naomi. He said that she has the perfectly proportioned body. Naomi likes men to wear the pants and be strong. She has been independent for a long time and likes strong men. Vlad wears the pants in their relationship. She says that dating rich and famous men is very private, almost not going out the house, she would never admit to the relationship, would protect their privacy and would never bad-mouth them, ever. She is on good terms with all her exes, Robert and Vlad have met.
Oprah asks if she sees her beauty, she says no but she recognizes that she was born with good bones. She thanks her mom. Naomi says that she needs to look as good on the inside as she does on the outside. After doing all the shows, suddenly everyone has gone and it’s an empty feeling.
Naomi now calls Moscow her home. She lives in Moscow, one of her favorite cities. She shows Red Square to the camera crew. 5 brides in 7 minutes, no 8, no 9 brides in a few minutes. She is helping put new designers on the map and she has been working with Russian Vogue. Naomi relaxes in a traditional Russian bathhouse. She has found love with a real estate mogul, Vladimir. Oprah says that Naomi’s boyfriend looks like Bond. They met in Cannes two years ago. Vladimir has been separated from his wife for ten years, Naomi gets on well with his daughter. Wow, says Oprah. They go skiing, Naomi has just learned, and she has also just learned to swim. She says that she couldn’t float. Oprah says that she feels so bad for Naomi that she didn’t have enough body fat to float. Now Naomi has learned how to swim. Since she met Vlad she has been working out and paying attention to her diet. She like to do Gyrotonics which is elongating not bulking. She does a master cleanse three times a year. She did it once for 18 days. She “does the rope,”skipping.
Naomi fulfilled her childhood dream at the Bolshoi Ballet Company. She gets to go on the stage, which is a huge deal. When she was 3 all she wanted to do was be a ballet dancer. In England she was always told that she was too tall. She dances on the stage. She then joins an elite Bolshoi ballet class. She is nervous and finds it overwhelming and jittery. She cries outside. She had a big fear of going back to class, but she never had the guts to do it. It was a big fear for her. It was her childhood dream.
She tells Oprah it felt so amazing, and she thanks Oprah. Oprah thanks Naomi for coming and sharing. Naomi has agreed to sign the No Phone Zone, Oprah tells her to be careful and that she will also get a special pledge, the No Phone Throw Zone. Oprah says that at 40 you become who you are meant to be and that Naomi is too pretty for what is on the inside to not match what is on the outside.
WHAT WE LEARNED TODAY:
Naomi Campbell has some anger issues.
But she’s very beautiful.
She gets angry when those close to her betray her. It makes her see red.
She also sees red when strangers annoy her.
She says she once dated a man who is working class, just like herself.
A VERY QUICK SUMMARY:
Naomi Campbell is beautiful yet angry person who is striving to be better and to find peace.