Naomi Campbell Says It’s ‘Hard To Be An Outspoken Black Woman’
20.09.2023 - 21:55
/ etcanada.com
Runway legend Naomi Campbell is slashing her stilettos into the stigmas Black women face.
In her new Apple TV+ doc, “The Super Models”, the generation-defining supreme supermodel – who has catwalked for brands like Marc Jacobs and Chanel – explains that being labelled as “difficult” throughout her career has been fuelled by racism.
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“It was hard to be an outspoken Black woman and I definitely got the cane for it many times,” she remembered in the third episode of the throwback series.
After leaving Ford’s modelling agency for Elite, Campbell was offered a contract with beauty company Revlon. Upon learning how little it was compared to what she made in a day, she told a meeting full of people that she wouldn’t accept the offer.
She said that decision led to her being labelled as “difficult” by Elite founder John Casablancas.
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“And he then decided he was going to go to the press and say I was difficult and that he fired me.”
An old talk show clip in the doc shows Campbell sharing quite the brutally honest description of Casablancas, stating: “He was very undignified. He got very nasty, which I personally felt that it was just exploitation because he knows my name will be printed in the paper and it will be a big press thing for Elite. But I have nothing to say about him. I think his behavior was totally undignified.”
Campbell reflected on the label, saying the stigma haunted her in the industry for decades.
“The Super Models”, which also