Naomi Campbell: 'I Have A Deep Sense of Shame'

February 27, 2007 | Celebrity Feuds


She’s reigned as the queen of the catwalk for 21 years, but supermodel Naomi Campbell revealed the last nine months of her life have been a living hell.

“I have a deep sense of shame for the things that I have done,” Naomi admitted.

In a candid “Extra” exclusive inside L.A. hotspot Social Hollywood, Naomi opened up to our Terri Seymour about her violent temper and the personal demons that drove her to assault her maid with a cell phone.

“I felt very remorseful for having thrown the phone at someone that didn’t deserve it,” Campbell confessed of her housekeeper, who misplaced Naomi’s jeans and as a result, needed four stitches.

It was at that moment that Naomi knew she needed help.

Naomi pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault in January and has been ordered to do community service and complete anger management classes.

So what does the supermodel blame for her short temper?

“Tiredness, lack of sleep; just so many things,” Campbell confessed.

It was those things that sent Naomi off to do some soul searching, a journey she’s been on for the past six months.

“I do therapy everyday,” Naomi told us, revealing that she often partakes in crystal therapy. “I think they bring great energy, and I’ll show you, I have a black absinthe, which is for protection.”

Ever the world traveler, Naomi showed us one thing she can’t ever forget to pack: her five cell phones.

And with a kinder, gentler Naomi emerging after months of therapy, it’s a job perk she can now joke about.

“Be careful with me about phones, as you know,” she teased.

From this experience, Naomi also confessed she’s learned plenty about herself, including, “I don’t have to be that controlling person; I was trying to control every little inch of my life.”

As she looks back on her darker days, Naomi pins her lowest point as self-destruction.

“I was really being destructive to myself,” she said. “I didn’t know how to ask for help, I didn’t know how to reach out. It was a really scary time.”

Naomi’s scary time is eerily similar to what Britney Spears is going through now.

“I feel very sad, I feel big compassion for her,” Naomi admitted. “You need to cut yourself off from the outside world, you need to focus, and it’s scary to dig in and look inside. But I’m telling you, it’s worth it.”


Click on an image to see the Naomi Campbell photo gallery!

comments

There is no comparison in my view between Brittney Spears and Naomi’s therapy. It’s one thing to look to therapy if you party too hard like Brittney, it’s another thing about what happened with Naomi, totally different. I am forming my opinion by Naomi’s interview with Tyra Banks. The sense of loss Naomi experienced, [in case no one was listening], was do to the death of Gianni Versace. Coping with loss, is a major thing, there is no comparison with people that party too hard. I think Extra is off base making this comparison. There is no comparison at all…none…

j field
March 1, 2007

I think people have tempers, Naomi said she did not intend to hit the maid, she threw something out of frustration. She also said she has deep remorse about what she did. Joking is a way of relieving some of that remorse. If it was Donald Trump, believe me it would have been far worse, in terms of publicity. Still assault is assault, it would have been treated the same way. Maids deserve respect for the work that they do. This incidient of Naomi’s maid (or maids) sounds to me like either the maid was incompetent, for misplacing Naomi’s Stella Macartney Jeans, [if I can believe they were “misplaced” that’s questionable there, and not once but twice this has occured], or otherwise some malfeasance occured regarding those particular jeans, which I think may carry a special significance to Naomi. Do I think she should have a right to hit the maid with here phone… no( it was an accident), do I think she had a right to be angry, yes I do.

J Field
February 28, 2007

Campbell was wrong to assault her maid. Lot’s of people have stress but they don’t go around hurting people. I have a cleaning business and clean houses for a living. It supports myself and 3 children, but my profession is not respected. You can even hear Naomi joking about throwing a phone to the reporter. What would happen if she had assaulted Donald Trump? Yes, the maid and Mr. Trump are both only people….equal, but the assault would not have been handled in the same manner.

Terrie
February 28, 2007

It is reassuring to here that Naomi feels remorse about what she feels she did that is wrong. I think that she has been through a lot, however, suffered major loss on a human scale, and is a very sensitive, beautiful person. I think, other people need to start accepting responsiblility for how there actions effect Naomi, not how Naomi effects them.

Jon Sonenfield
February 27, 2007

I hear what she is saying. I am amazed. The whole sense of shame feels like a familiar thing at times even to me. But why didn’t she just ask for help if she needed it so badly?

John L. Hemphill
February 27, 2007
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