Naomi Campbell has been in Nigeria in the last few days, taking part in the 3rd Annual Thisday Africa Rising Festival which seeks to raise awareness of African issues and find “sustainable solutions.”  She gave an exclusive interview to the Daily Mirror and responded to criticism she has endured.

Naomi Campbell has poured her heart out to 3am following her notorious air rage arrest, insisting: “I’m not a bad person.”

In an emotional interview, the supermodel hit back at her detractors for focusing on the “negatives” in her life.

Three weeks ago, Naomi was ordered to do 200 hours of community service – escaping a possible six-month jail sentence – after assaulting two police officers on board a BA flight, in a row over lost luggage.

But Naomi, 38, told us: “I’m not a bad person. When people say all these negative things about me, I ignore them.

“Let them be negative – but do that away from me. It hurts but I know there is much more good in the world.

 Supermodels Naomi Campbell and Tyson Beckford at Lagos Island Maternity Hospital in Lagos, Nigeria on July 13, 2008.

“I’m blessed to be able to do charitable work and good things but no one focuses on that because I don’t throw it in people’s faces. That’s why they focus on the negatives.”

Speaking at the star-studded This Day Africa Rising concert, in Abuja, Nigeria, the iconic model revealed she’d been helped through her dark times by fellow catwalk queen Kate Moss. And with rumours flying around that Kate and Jamie Hince have split, Naomi has offered to be there for her, too.

“I am so lucky to have friends like Kate, who are there for me whatever,” added Naomi. “Even if we are not on the same continent we support each other. That’s what best friends do.

Source: Upset Naomi Campbell insists she’s not a bad person

Top photo: Naomi Campbell at Lagos Island Maternity Hospital in Lagos, Nigeria on July 13, 2008.

Photo credit: Getty Images Europe

Naomi Campbell and Tyson Beckford at Lagos Island Maternity Hospital in Lagos, Nigeria on July 13, 2008.

In an interview with Reuters, Naomi Campbell discussed why she has not retired from modeling.

British supermodel Naomi Campbell refuses to retire after more than two decades on the world’s catwalks because there are still too few black beauties in the fashion industry.

While many of her colleagues of the late 1980s — like Cindy Crawford and Christy Turlington — have moved on from the runways, the 38-year-old icon continues to turn heads at the world’s top fashion shows.

“I’m very grateful for my career, but I worry for the girls after me for the opportunities they get — the way they get treated. And this is one of the reasons I still do what I do,” she told Reuters in a weekend interview in Nigeria.

Campbell, who as a teenager was the first black model to grace the covers of the French and British editions of Vogue magazine, said many fashion designers still favored fair-skinned models over their dark-skinned counterparts.

“I don’t do so many shows anymore, but I do count how many girls of color they use in the shows. It happens to be last year New York was the worst,” the British bombshell said, wearing a simple white short-sleeved top and blue jeans.

“Now at Paris Haute Couture there was only one black girl out of all the shows. It cannot be a trend.”

Photo Credit: Steven Meisel/Vogue Italy

Italian Vogue decided to use mainly black models in its July edition to highlight the problem.

“For me, it is something that is history-making. Something that I’m going to keep forever,” she said about the magazine, which has a photo of her on one of four different covers.

Source: Lack of black models keeps Naomi Campbell going

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Naomi Campbell Discusses Her Public Image and the Lack of Black Models