The Warlord, the Supermodel and the Dirty Diamonds

Posted on Aug 9, 2010

Wikimedia Commons / Jgro888

Supermodels might do well to keep their manicured hands out of global politics, judging by the case of Naomi Campbell and her questionable link to ousted Liberian President Charles Taylor, whose reported gift of a bagful of uncut diamonds in 1997 has landed the temperamental model in a bit of a diplomatic pickle 13 years later. Also guest-starring in this strange tale is Mia Farrow, who has also taken the stand to discuss the dirty diamonds at Taylor’s war-crimes trial in The Hague.  —KA

BBC:

Mr Taylor denies 11 charges at the Special Court for Sierra Leone, sitting in The Hague, and he has denied having anything to do with the trade in so-called blood diamonds.

According to Ms White, Mr Taylor and Ms Campbell had been “mildly flirtatious” with each other at the 1997 dinner in South Africa, hosted by Nelson Mandela who was the country’s president at the time.

Mr Taylor told the supermodel during dinner that he would send some men to give her diamonds, Ms White told the hearing.

“We were sitting around this lounge area at about 10 o’clock at night and we were waiting for these men to arrive,” Ms White said.

Read more

Comments

Are you a Truthdig member yet? Login now, or register with Truthdig.