Naomi Campbell may be known as a catwalk assassin, but, as it turns out, her ability to shade critics is just as lethal.
The supermodel is the topic of discussion as footage of being honored by Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour at a Harlem Row Fashion event has gone viral. The convergence of some of the who’s who of the industry took place on Sept. 3 as part of the unofficial kickoff of New York Fashion Week.
Clips of Wintour slighting the beauty during her presentation of an award have since gone viral. To begin, the editor-in-chief said, “I am a very punctual person, and I have the honor of presenting tonight to someone who is often late.”
At the time, the runway icon was not in the room. Wintour, 74, would go on to state that the star of the evening was brave and honest and that the industry has undoubtedly benefited from Campbell’s presence.
“Naomi is honestly one of the most fearless people I know, a quality that was evident at the very, very start of her career when she began to speak the truth about inequality and injustice. And this was at a time when it was not so common to do so,” the Met Gala chairperson said.
According to TMZ, Wintour and Campbell did not interact at the ceremony because the longstanding fashion authority left before the model arrived. She reportedly had another engagement to attend. Instead, Samira Nasr, editor-in-chief of Harper’s Bazaar, presented the U.K. bombshell with the Fashion Icon Award.
Campbell, who has a reputation for being among the fashion industry’s supreme mean girls, expressed thanks that Wintour carved out time to attend the show, but she also matched Wintour’s nice-nasty energy.
“I wanna say this. Everything’s meant to work out the way it’s meant to work out. It wasn’t my choice to have the other lady. I’d much rather have this, so thank you,” the supermodel said.
“I have to speak my truth. I’ve always been unapologetically truthful right? So why would I change it now at this age,” added the 54-year-old.
Additional comments included her acknowledging that Wintour had been the person who gave her a chance to make her Vogue debut — as the first Black model on the cover of the France edition — in 1988 after meeting the previous year.
She also noted that the Condé Nast chief content officer has been supportive of her 30-plus-year career. The ladies have been photographed seated together in the front row of fashions shows and various events throughout the years. Campbell has also made eight appearances at the invitation-only Met Gala since 2003.
fashion history: naomi cried to yves saint laurent about how vogue paris wouldn’t give her a cover. so he called them and said he was going to remove his adverts in the magazine if they didn’t give her a cover. naomi became the first black model to appear on the cover in 1988 pic.twitter.com/tflriAckz6
— C 💒 (@churchofysl) May 10, 2024
However, reactions to the heavily circulated and snipped clips of the women’s speeches suggest people have been clamoring for “fashion tea.” On Twitter, one person commented, “Naomi’s clapback was legendary—she’s never one to let a comment slide, especially when it comes to her time and presence. It seems like she got the last word in with style!”
Another said, “kanye voice* ANNA WINTOUR DOESN’T CARE ABOUT BLACK PEOPLE.”
Someone else mockingly wrote, “Anna better stop before Naomi launch a phone at her face.” Campbell has a history of being a hothead known to throw phones at staff members during fits of rage. She has previously addressed her bad behavior as well as completed community service in 2007 connected to an assault conviction.
Another user celebrated Campbell’s response as the start of “the downfall of Ana Wintour.” The editor’s track record of maintaining the industry’s tokenism of Black models has resurfaced in the midst of reactions to the fashion show incident.
In the past, Campbell has called out “the fashion Bible” for its lack of diversity — namely, Condé Nast’s exclusion of Africa from its roster of international editions.
*kanye voice* ANNA WINTOUR DOESN'T CARE ABOUT BLACK PEOPLE
— 🕊️🦁✨ (@venusinbronze) September 4, 2024
“Africa has never had the opportunity to be out there and their fabrics and their materials and their designs be accepted on the global platform… It shouldn’t be that way,” she told Reuters in 2018. Presently, any strides to bring the continent’s own edition to fruition have not been publicized.
In June 2020, an internal memo from Wintour to employees was leaked to the media. In it, the editor assumed responsibility for the challenging plight Black staff members endured while working for the publication. At the time, the world was beset with widespread outrage in the weeks after George Floyd’s murder.
“I want to say this especially to the Black members of our team — I can only imagine what these days have been like,” she began.
Wintour continued, “I want to say plainly that I know Vogue has not found enough ways to elevate and give space to Black editors, writers, photographers, designers and other creators. We have made mistakes too, publishing images or stories that have been hurtful or intolerant. I take full responsibility for those mistakes.”
that time Anna Wintour told Andre Leon Talley that Vogue isn’t here to run a column about a black creative honoring Black History Month. pic.twitter.com/M1nDyEpsIk
— kino makoto. (@safalucian) January 19, 2022
Campbell shared her reaction to the memo on “Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.”
In part, she felt that changes in the fashion world were finally about to take place while mentioning that she had never enjoyed being the “token” Black model.
She said, “Everyone would used to think that it you liked being the token person token black person in the room it’s absolutely the opposite. I never did, and it needs to change from the boardroom to the seat. It needs to go right from the top through. I’ve been saying this for years.”
That same year, 2020, Wintour admitted she had “made mistakes along the way” and the diversity issues at Condé Nast were “mine to own and remedy” after The New York Times published a story in which Black staffers who had worked at Vogue described being sidelined by Wintour.
