A video of supermodel Naomi Campbell defending herself for her past association with the late sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein has resurfaced on social media and is making its rounds. The wealthy financier mingled with the rich and famous prior to him allegedly taking his life while jailed and awaiting trial in 2019.
Court documents related to the sex trafficking case against Epstein and his accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, were unsealed on Jan. 3, and names of the celebrities he associated with were made public. Campbell’s name was listed alongside notable names such as Bruce Willis, Cate Blanchett, Bill Clinton, Cameron Diaz, Michael Jackson, Kevin Spacey, and Leonardo DiCaprio. Despite Epstein reportedly being jailed for trafficking young girls for sex acts, none of the names presented on the Jan. 3 list are currently being accused of any wrongdoing.
In a resurfaced video from 2019, Campbell opened up about her association with Epstein. One of the late financier’s accusers, Virginia Giuffre, was seen in a picture with Maxwell partying on a yacht for Campbell’s 31st birthday when Giuffre was 17. Campbell was modeling for Victoria’s Secret at the time, and she said that Epstein was always “front and center” at the brand’s fashion shows. She added that she was introduced by her then-boyfriend, Italian businessman Flavio Briatore, on her 31st birthday.
Cambell spoke out after receiving backlash for her association with Epstein and defended herself against “character assassination.” The 53-year-old model was criticized in a Daily Mail article for her Epstein association.
“I’ve always said that I’m not a saint, that I am a work in progress, but I will not be held hostage by my past,” said Campbell.
“What he has done is indefensible, and when I heard it sickened me to my stomach just like everybody else,” she continued. “Because I’ve had my fair share of sexual predators, and thank God I had good people around who protected me from this. And right now, I stand with the victims. You know, they are scarred for life.”
Campbell went on to say that she shouldn’t be chastised just for taking a picture with people at public events, given her fame.
“I’ve rubbed shoulders with hundreds of thousands of people. I mean, I find it extraordinary that of all the hundreds of thousands of people that I’ve stood next to to take pictures with at a public event, they’ve only chosen these few,” noted Campbell. “It’s going to be very difficult to be photographed at public events because you’re going to think, ‘If you do take a picture, it’s going to be taken out of context and used in a negative way.’”
The supermodel also slammed the journalists who tried to make her guilty by association.
Campbell added that she would not “lay down” and let people continue to come after her.
“We can all read between the lines and know why they keep coming at me, but I will not lay down and let that happen,” she said. “The frightening conclusion here is that if the negative action of your neighbor, colleague, or even associate can somehow make you guilty – simply by association, then we indeed live in very worrying times. This affects us all it is wrong. It’s unfair and it must be stopped.”
Campbell is now a mother of two. The supermodel recently welcomed her second child, a son, at 53. She also has a 2-year-old daughter, whom she posed with on the cover of British Vogue back in 2022.
