Hardtalk. Welcome to hardtalk with me, zeinab badawi. My guest in this exclusive interview is one of the queens of fashion, the british model, Naomi Campbell. In a Landmark Announcement that has the Royal Seal of approval, she becomes the platinumjubilee global ambassador for the Queens Commonwealth Trust. How will this new Role Fit in with her activism for greater Equality And Diversity . What motivates Naomi Campbell to keep on pushing boundaries . Naomi campbell, welcome to hardtalk. Thank you, zeinab, for having me. Nice to see you. Great to see you too. What does your new role as Platinum Jubilee Ambassador for the Queens Commonwealth Trust entail . What will you do . Really, its similar to what i have been doing, except its going to be adding a few different countries, ones i have been working with already. The young generation, young businesses, supporting, guiding, mentoring and just uplifting the countries and, you know, i love doing that, so its really, its an honour to have this role. And im looking forward. Were you surprised when you were given this honour, as you put it . Yes, very much so. Why were you surprised . I dont know, i really do just stay in my day, and i was very surprised. Its always, i think, an honour when your country of origin asks you to do something. The focus of the Queens Commonwealth Trust list coming is education and employability, environment, food and agriculture, health, inclusion. Which will you be focussing on . Education i already do, so for sure we will want to further that, because that is important for the young generation, worldwide. Agriculture, tourism, for me, its, you know, i work with young creatives any way, and in africa, so really it is for me enhancing that, and, having a great support team, with the commonwealth and all the other people that make up the commonwealth, to support me, we can push further and harder in getting these things achieved, because what is amazing it is voluntary, so everyone is there because they want to be there, and, i think the supporting right now is so important with everyone being so isolated. You mention africa, and i know you visited africa a great deal before lockdown, and you have said in the past, i feeljamaican but i also feel african. Absolutely. There are designers who say you have done a great deal to support african fashion, so when you are doing this work on behalf of the commonwealth trust, the Queens Commonwealth Trust, is africa going to be a big, important area for you, and why is it so important . Africa will always remain important for me, and so i will continue doing what i do for africa, as well as the inclusion of all the other countries that make up the commonwealth. Also my heritage country, jamaica. You get to a certain point in your life, that you realise that you can use your platform, and you should share your platform, and you should make your platform transcend for others, so that is really, ifeel, i mean, i havent been given a particular Hand Book of how i do this new role, but i feel it is just going to be similar from what i have been doing, from what i learned, from our great wonderful madiba. You are referring to Nelson Mandela who referred to you as his honorary granddaughter. You say you want to use this as a platform, is this the right platform for you . Let me tell you what Philip Murphy here says about the commonwealth. He says it is very good at pumping out the lovely Candy Floss Sound Bites about how it will solve world peace, save the Rainforest And End world poverty, but you ask the question, what have you actually achieved and you are faced with shocked silence. Does the commonwealth give you much to do . I mean, me, as a person, ifeel like, all who know me, whether you know me or you dont know me, you know i am a person of action, so if am going to commit myself to any type of organisation worldwide, it is because i am willing to do the work. Otherwise i wouldnt be there, i wouldnt be committed, or sitting here. Is the commonwealth the right vehicle for you . Some feel it is a post imperial relic. I feel it is, because these are countries i care about, so it gives me a platform that i can now go in there and really try and get things done, and bring ideas of the young generation to the forefront and see it through from a to z. That is the Commonwealth Bit of the Queens Commonwealth Trust, but how do you reconcile the bit that says the queen. You know there is a live debate in the caribbean, in your own country of origin, jamaica, about whether they should lose the queen as head of state. Barbados does at The End of november. Caroline cooper says it is high time forjamaica to complete the Process Emancipation from the british monarchy. Its a very tough question to ask me, but i feel with Myjamaican Heritage that jamaica is independent any way, i mean, they have their, they have their independence, but i guess they want to be completely free from the british colony, or colonisation. You know, i feel that it goes into a deeper conversation and i feel that the whole Windrush Scandal Hasnt really helped that situation for them, feeling like they were treated fairly in that way, of being embraced. You mentioned the windrush scandal, the ship that brought many immigrants into the united kingdom from the caribbean in the 50s. I can understand, it is no shock to me, but i understand where the Hurt And Frustration comes from. Because the descendants of those original windrush immigrants, some were told they had no right to remain in the united kingdom when they had been born and bred here, you think that had a direct impact. . I do believe so. Your great grandparents came over. Absolutely. Did you feel personally affronted . I did and i was invited to number ten for an event after the mistake of being, a mistake on, how shall we say, a faux pas. I refused because i felt like i had been used, lets get Naomi Campbell here, it will make it look like it is ok if she comes. I will never go against my people. That is when Theresa May was prime minister. Yes, so i refused and said no thank you, i am not going to attend, and did go, quietly, to see Theresa May, before she left number ten, and you know, she made it, she wasnt acting like she knew she had done something, a mistake, and upset a lot of people and hurt a lot peoples feelings, but it is also, you have to remember this, their foundation of where they came from, in coming to this country, so it was deep, it was a very deep wound that she opened. Right. And look, another issue that is being discussed across the caribbean, Including Injamaica and the coalition of caribbean states, supports reparations, and the Jamaican Minister for Youth And Culture says we are hoping for reparatory justice in all forms, so following that idea of redress, would you like to see reparations for slavery . Absolutely 100 . There should be reparation, why not . Why cant we go to the hague and get reparations . So you are representing the Queens Commonwealth Trust as their global ambassador, yet you want in her Majestys Name to see the reparations. I believe there should be reparations, other cultures have got reparations. You dont see any contradiction there . Well, other cultures have had it and. You know, fought for it, for what they have been through. For the lives that were ruined. I dont see why they shouldnt. 0k, fairenough. So look, there will be a lot of interest generated by this announcement, you are the Platinum Jubilee Ambassador marking the queens platinum jubilee. I was thinking today, am i going to have an article by his wonderful highness Piers Morgan . You are preferring to the british media journalist. The interest i think will also focus on the fact that, you know, there has been a lot of talk about diversity, Inclusion And Race and the british Royal Family, triggered very much by, brought to the fore by the comments the Duke And Duchess of sussex made to Oprah Winfrey in march this year. I mean, what was your reaction to that . I actually am not going to comment too much on that, this is all im going to say, this is what i said to my friends when i was watching it in the room, and this is what i am going to say now. It was sad for me, knowing princess diana, to see that her two boys were not on good terms. As a mother, that is the last thing you want to happen with your boys. She is no longer here, that is her legacy, is her two boys, you dont want to see that happen. But it was the aspect of race, really, that i was more interested in. The race. Because Prince Harry said he had been involved in conversations, at the time it was awkward, i was a bit shocked, and he was referring to the concerns articulated by a memeber of the Royal Family he said, not the queen, about how dark a child he and the duchess might have. So it is that question, i wondered what your reflections were on that . More than likely, you have got a household of, all ages, different levels of aristocracy, do i think it was said . Probably, absolutely it was said. Iam sure. The palace said recollections may vary, but yeah. How was it said . Dont know, wasnt there, i Cant Comment on something i dont know. I need to hear it for myself. Have i had it said to me . Is what i can talk about my own experience. Yes, many times, even when i understood in my business at 18 years old what i was up against, i opened my mouth and i continued to open my mouth, and i never closed my mouth and i became labelled for it, and didnt get manyjobs for it, especially here, in united kingdom. You said you had to work twice as hard to become a successful model because you were black. I dont complain, i dont, im a hard working woman, i work hard for everything i have. Sorry to interrupt you, when you say you dont complain are you saying the sussexes are complaining . I talk about myself, i have moved on from the sussexes, sorry. Sorry. I moved on. I talk about my own experience, i Cant Talk about others. I can sit there and watch an interview like everybody else in the world, and take, get, this is what i get from it. What i got from that was, as i said it was really for, a friend of mine, who is no longer here, to have her two sons not on talking terms must be very sad. That is it. You said in an interview in Harpers Bazaar that the whole world is addressing racism, so england is going to have to deal with it. And of course we had the George Floyd Murder in may which triggered Soul Searching about Race And Diversity and so on. Do you support blm yourself . It is not that i dont support orsupport, blm came about and has been existing for how many years . It started while a while ago, at least ten years ago. I have been modelling for 35 years, so for me, the way i have been speaking was like black lives matter without knowing it, so now we have an actual hub with a Name And Label and a society, and something, organisation, and so. Ifeel like its, why is it just now we have this permission, we feel we can, no, speak when you want to speak, you speak when you see things are unjust. You are not worried about the label, you dont support it or. . I support it. But i have been doing blm, blm is not new for me, it is part of my life since i understood the effects of what racism can do, and what racism can cause. And so for me, at 18 years old, i have been doing blm since i was 18. I specifically, it is about racism, racism in my business of fashion, how i was treated. I will go back to my Self Experiences because i cannot take and criticism and speak on another� s experience. I dont know what it feel like. You have been talking about racism for a long time as you say, but one phenomenon that is more contemporary is online abuse. We have heard a great deal about that after the euro finals. Which was, i sat there watching that, i was in los angeles, and i sat there watching it, and as soon as that ball didnt go in, i turned round and i said i really hope that they give security to these boys. Because, and i really hope it is not going to happen, but i knew it was going to happen. What, the online racial abuse . The online racial abuse. Have you had that . Many times, cyber attack last year, just, salacious, disgraceful, i mean, im not a, it wasnt just me, it was me with a big group of people. A lot of those people went quiet. I didnt. Im not going to go quiet. What kind of things were said to you . For me, if you want to sit behind a computer, and write terrible things to people, you are a coward. I am not going to let you silence me. I am not a coward. You have also said, in american vogue in december 2020, you said the angry black Woman Label has been used against me many times. You are talking about how the media treated you,. To silence me, here i am. Why do you think that you have had this kind of coverage . Because i open my mouth. You know, it is like, you dont want to hear from an 18 year old from south london, how she feels, it is like get in front of the camera and do yourjob and shut up. No, thats not who i am. Im still a human being. Do you, and i want to ask you this in a very genuine way, because of course, your Well Publicised Cases of a sort, four which took place between 1998 and 2009, to what extent do you think coverage, in the press, Helped Fortify that kind of view of you as an angry black women. If Lisa Smith goes into an restaurant and has an argument with a waiter. She is white. If Naomi Campbell has an argument with a waiter, it is the spoilt model Naomi Campbell. It is like that, and it is so embedded that way, that people dont realise any more. You dont think that your actions may have warranted that perception for some people, you think it is entirely as a function of your result of your race . I stand by and own my thing. In my past, i always have and always will, but i wont be held hostage by it. That i will always say. Everybody has a past. Mine is open and out, maybe it is better that way. I dont have to worry about any bones, but, it doesnt define me as who i am as a woman. It doesnt define me for the things i fight for, it doesnt define me for the countries that i have supported since 1993. So, these things do not stop me for continuing my mission that i have within myself. Not because someone has told me to do it. It has never been about i am telling you to do this. You are a terrific Role Model for so many black women, particularly in fashion and the fact you have overcome many obstacles, and as you said, issues of race, the rise to the top of the Fashion World. I was in the audience in 2017 at a womens summit in london when you were talking to the Interviewer Nancy gibbs, and we know the Fashion World is highly pressured, and you said i worked so much at the beginning, i never took a break, and then you went on to discussing your problems with Substance Abuse and you mentioned how Drug Use fuelled some of your outbursts. Now that you are taking this Landmark Step in your career with this high Profile Position as global ambassador, i wonder how you reflect and explain that part of your life . I would explain it the same way. Iam a human being, i make mistakes, and nothing will change, i will explain it the same way, because people can, if you go through your mistakes, own them, look yourself in the mirror, take heed, and move forward, and be enlightened and be open to change, i think everyone, everyone deserves to have that chance in their life for change. And you managed to bring about that change, i mean, how did you manage it . Im very, i am very with myself straightforward, and not like, i dont live in denial, so to speak. So accepting there is a problem and acting on it. Acting on it. Absolutely. And talking about the pressures that models experience, particularly those who get to the top, we are all mindful of the fact there are a lot of allegations of Sexual Abuse that took place in the Modelling World and perhaps taking place now, and the former First Lady of france, Carla Bruni Sarkozi says of the Fashion World, it is an industry with a lot of young people, a lot of young flesh for predators, did you yourself come under that kind of pressure, and or were you aware of what was going on . Ok, so, i was not aware of what was going on 100 . Did i have, did i ever have those advances when i was16, 17 . Absolutely. But, again, i had a mouth, i was shy, but i had a mouth when i knew something was morally wrong, so i had these wonderful legendary designers around me, alaia azzedine, mr laurent, so i could go to these men, and i could tell them, if someone had come up to me in a way that was not right, and i would and i did, and they were my protectors, so i used the people that were, you know, embracing me to protect me. Do you think it is something to do with your upbringing, because you had strong female Role Models, your mother, your late grandmother who brought you up a lot, and you sadly lost her this year, your aunts. Do you think that helped you. Definitely. Confront these challenges . Definitely surrounded by a strong group of women, they dont let you get away with anything, you are not going to slip, you will hear it, and i feel that that is why i am the way i am, and i am grateful for that and it is that way to this very day. You yourself have recently become the mother of a gorgeous little girl, you surprised everybody with the announcement in may. It is difficult to be a mother at any age, but to become a first time mother at the age of 51, i wonder how you are finding it . I think I Have A Dream child, she is wonderful, so she is so very independent already, very smart, alert, sleeps 12 hours. She is a good girl. Are you going to instil the values that you were brought up with to be a strong independent woman . Absolutely, right down to the hygiene part. Naomi to the hygiene part. Campbell thank you very much Naomi Campbell thank you very much for coming on hardtalk. Thank you so much. Hello there. We start this new week off on a fine note thanks to high Pressure Efficiency quite a bit of sunshine around and do feel quite warm in the afternoon. Both today and into tuesday. Then towards The End of the week, we will see an active jets spin up deep areas of low pressure which could bring more autumnal to our shores. Gales and outbreaks of rain will feel cooler too. For today, weve got some from pushing to the northwest of scotland, Yesterdays Weather Front still straddling, East Anglia in the southeast with quite a bit of cloudy times, some showers around, the Odd Heavy One too. And it starts a bit wetter for Northwest Scotland through the day with a few showers for Northern Ireland. The best of the sunshine, a good slice to central portions of the uk but well see highs of 21 degrees. Generally into the high teens the way we have more cloud. As we head through monday night, the Weather Fronts in the northwest Sink Southeast words, fizzling out leaving no more than a band of cloud and maybe the odd shower. Eventually, we lose that Weather Front across East Anglia in the southeast. Where skies clear will be quite cool, single digits butjust hold onto the cloud around ten to maybe 12 degrees. So, we start tuesday off of our area of High Pressure dominating the scene, but we have a deep low spinning up to the north of the uk. Lots of isobars here, but it will be quite windy across the northern half of the uk, cloud coming and going for the northwest of scotland and maybe just a few showers, particularly by The End of the day with the rest of the country. England and wales, england scotland a Lovely Day with temperatures reaching 20 degrees aberdeen 21 or 22 further south. We start to see some changes after tuesday. 0ur Area of High Pressure begins to pull away and allows this deep low in the north to influence our weather and indeed wednesday is the autumn equinox. It will be feeling more autumnal across the uk. A band of Rain Spreading into scotland and Northern Ireland followed by sunshine and blustery shadows of the gales developing in the north. A breezy day as well to the south of this rain band. For much of england but another fine one getting the sunshine out, temperatures 20 to 22 degrees feeling quite warm for that wednesday it looks like being the last day because behind his mother fronted to Thursday Temperatures drop a deep blow, spins up across the north of the uk we think that will bring widespread gales. Its turning cooler across all areas. Thursday and friday will be windy particularly across the north of the uk with gales and outbreaks of rain. Welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore, im karishma vaswani. The headlines. Stuffed ballots, covered up cameras. Evidence of fraud as polls close in russias elections, with President Putin taking an early lead. A volcano erupts spectacularly on La Palma in spains Canary Islands spewing out lava, ash and smoke, and forcing the evacuation of local villages. Canadians prepare to vote in mondays parliamentary elections with polls pointing to a very tight race. Also in the programme. Philippine Boxing Champion turned politician, manny pacquiao, confirms he will run for president next year. And rolling out the Red Carpet in la as televisions biggest stars arrive for the emmy awards