Naomi Campbell details painful insight into cocaine and booze addiction

21 September 2023 , 18:05

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Naomi was deeply affected by the murder of Gianni Versace (Image: Getty Images)

Supermodel Naomi Campbell has opened up about her struggle with addiction in the late 90s and early noughties.

The catwalk icon discussed her battles with alcohol and cocaine in the fourth episode of the new Apple TV+ docuseries The Super Models. In her solo episode, Campbell revealed how her addiction was triggered by the death of her friend Gianni Versace in 1997 when he was shot by obsessed fan Andrew Cunanan.

The new Apple TV+ programme has featured Naomi's fellow original supermodels including Christy Turlington, Linda Evangelista and Cindy Crawford who have highlighted their experiences of the 'supermodel era' as they built their careers as fashion icons.

Naomi Campbell has shared a rare insight into her battle with drink and drugs (AFP via Getty Images)

Campbell opens up about the shocking death of her close friend Gianni Versace, as she remembers being told on the phone whilst she was in Rome and on her way to meet the designer's sister Donatella. She recalls: "Everything starts ringing in your ears. It’s awful. I can’t get to the hotel because there are thousands of people outside, so I have to climb up the laundry shaft to get into the hotel."

Next Campbell then explains how the grief of losing close pal Gianni saw her turn to drink and drugs, as she tells the camera: "Addiction is such a bulls**t thing. You think it’s going to heal that wound, but it doesn’t."

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Campbell's battle with booze and cocaine spiralled, leading to the model's collapse at a photoshoot in 1999. The health scare was a wake-up call, which saw Campbell check herself into rehab as she explained: "I have always owned up to [my mistakes], and I chose to go to rehab, and it was the best and only thing I could have done for myself at that time." She also began attending Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA) meetings.

Naomi has previously called her drink and drug addiction 'a destroyer' (APPLETV)

The tell-all TV programme also sees Campbell reflect on her 'violent' episodes in the past, including her conviction for assaulting her personal assistant with a mobile phone in September 1998. Under an agreement with prosecutors, Campbell expressed remorse and was released without punishment or a criminal record. In 2007, she was charged with another assault when she admitted in court to throwing a mobile phone at her housekeeper and was sentenced to five days of community service for third-degree assault.

Speaking about her behaviour around this time, Campbell said: "Addiction can cause such huge fear and anxiety, so I got really angry."

Campbell's confessions about her addiction are a rare insight into her personal life. In a previous interview in 2010 to Oprah Winfrey, Campbell revealed she turned to drugs like cocaine as a 24-year-old model to cope with the demand of her blossoming fashion career. At the time, she explained: "It was a destroyer. I mean, it’s really a devil’s drug."

Niamh Spence