Campbell's ex-agent 'told pack of lies'
Naomi Campbell’s former agent was accused today of telling a “complete pack of lies” about a gift to the supermodel of alleged “blood diamonds”.
Carole White insisted her account of how ex-Liberian president Charles Taylor gave Campbell the precious stones after she flirted with him was the truth.
She also claimed that the model texted or phoned the African leader or his staff as she excitedly waited for her present to arrive.
Campbell told Taylor’s war crimes trial in The Hague last week that she received the diamonds after a party hosted by Nelson Mandela in September 1997, but did not know who they came from.
The former president’s legal team tore into Ms White’s evidence today in a heated cross-examination session at the Special Court for Sierra Leone in the Netherlands.
They suggested she invented her story to support her $600,000 (€457,000) legal dispute with Campbell over alleged unpaid royalties from a perfume deal.
Ms White maintained she was telling the truth – but admitted she did not actually hear Taylor tell the south London-born model he would give her the diamonds.
Defence lawyer Courtenay Griffiths QC said to her: “I suggest that your account is a complete pack of lies, and you have made it up in order to assist in your lawsuit against Miss Campbell.”
Quoting Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five’s 1982 hip-hop single ’The Message’, he added: “Put bluntly, for you this is all about money, there ain’t nothing funny.”
Ms White replied: “It’s totally the truth. It has nothing whatsoever to do with my business argument with Naomi Campbell.”
She added: “This is not about money, this is about a very serious matter and I am telling the truth.”
Ms White, co-founder of Premier Model Management, was questioned about a witness statement in which she said she heard Taylor promising to give Campbell the diamonds at the dinner organised by Mandela in Pretoria, South Africa.
She admitted today that she did not hear him say he would make the gift.
“He nodded that he was going to send her diamonds. I didn’t hear the words, I don’t recall them,” she said.
Mr Griffiths said: “The bottom line is, you made this up.”
She replied: “I did not make it up.”
Campbell’s former agent also admitted she was wrong when she said in her statement she was “fairly certain” Graca Machel, Mandela’s future wife, did not attend the dinner.
Ms White said she was present at the end of the meal when Campbell and one of Taylor’s ministers discussed how the jewels would be delivered to the model.
“It was quite clear that some men had already been dispatched to Johannesburg to collect the diamonds,” she said.
The modelling agent said Campbell received updates from Taylor or his staff about the men’s progress via phone calls or text messages.
But Mr Griffiths said neither the Liberian president nor any of his entourage had a mobile phone in 1997.
Later that night, after everyone had gone to bed, Ms White was roused when stones were thrown at the window of her room.
She said she went to the window and found two men outside who told her, “We’ve got a gift for Miss Campbell”.
Asked how Campbell reacted on being told about the men, Ms White said: “I think she was quite excited that finally these diamonds had arrived.”
The agent said she and the model let the pair in and offered them a Coca-Cola after they handed over the rough-cut diamonds in a “scruffy” piece of paper.
Mr Griffiths challenged this account, saying: “Two men you’ve never seen before that night just happen to throw stones at your window without knowing who you are or your connection to Naomi Campbell? How does that work?”
Ms White replied: “It’s what happened. I can’t say any more than that.”
Mr Griffiths went on: “I suggest you are a liar.”
She said: “That’s nice of you.”
The defence lawyer continued: “I suggest that this account of what happened that night is a complete fabrication, which is why you are having difficulty dealing with the detail. Do you understand what I’m suggesting?”
She replied: “No.”
Ms White agreed that a “hefty amount” was a stake in her legal dispute with Campbell over alleged breach of contract, but insisted this was not the motive for her testimony.
Explaining why she came forward to give evidence, she said: “I have known this story since 1997. It is quite an amazing story.
“However, when I was told by my lawyer that Charles Taylor had been in The Hague in a war crimes trial, I realised it was very serious and the blood diamond issue had a big bearing on the case.
“It was my duty to tell my story that happened 13 years ago. I haven’t lied and this is a true story.”
Despite the seriousness of the matters under discussion, there were lighter moments in today’s hearing.
Mr Griffiths described his mobile phone as a “wretched thing” when it went off during his cross-examination, and a judge told the QC to “temper his language” when he described part of Ms White’s account as “complete nonsense”.
Taylor is accused of war crimes during Sierra Leone’s civil war, including using illicit “blood diamonds” to fund rebels.
He denies 11 charges, including murder, rape, sexual slavery and recruiting child soldiers. The defence case is expected to be completed by the middle of November.
