Naomi Campbell On Why She Won’t Do An All-Black TV Show: It Would Be Hypocritical Given What I’ve Stood For…Balanced Inclusion

Naomi Campbell On Why She Won’t Do An All-Black Show: It Would Be Hypocritical Given What I’ve Stood For… Balanced Inclusion

Naomi Campbell has bared all, and now she’s getting even more vulnerable. From explaining why she won’t join an all-Black show to not being weighed down by her controversial past, Naomi Campbell explains how Blacks define the culture:

“I feel a difference on many levels now – but someone I know recently called it a ‘cult.’ It wasn’t that way when you had everything, was it? You wouldn’t say that when you were getting everything handed on a plate, and things were coming your way constantly.”

At the same time, Naomi Campbell, who once starred on Fox’s “Empire”, said she would never sign on to do a show that only features Black people because while she believes in inclusion, she wants it to be balanced.

“I’m the kind of person where, with my friends – and I take that word very seriously – I’m happy for what they get. So to hear this called a ‘cult’, that was like, ‘Wait a second: so you want me to feel bad now that things are turning the other way?’ No. We just want balance, end of story. I won’t do an all-black show, for instance, because it would be hypocritical given what I’ve stood for, for so long…Balanced inclusion.”

She said she even turned down “tons of money” to be a part of an all-Black cast.

“I can see clearly when brands want diversity because they get it and think it’s the right thing to do – and the ones who just think it will look bad if they don’t.”

She recently said she worked with a Black photographer in high fashion for the first time in her 33-year career.

But she said what attracted her to photographer Campbell Addy was that he was a breath of fresh air.

“I embrace young people and their creativity, it’s fun for me. I’m happy for all the new talent and proud to be here right now, witnessing all this music and culture and the lifestyle, and the way it moves in fashion. Gianni [Versace] always said it would mix like this, and it finally did.”

She also discussed rumors that she and fellow Black female supermodel Tyra Banks were often put up against each other.

“Some people think I wanted it to be that way. I did not want it that way. If I wasn’t there, there would be no one, and we have to have presence.”

Tyra Banks, Naomi Campbell

As for her recent push for diversity, she said that it’s not necessarily anything new.

“It’s not that I feel comfortable. I don’t think I’ve been speaking about it more – I think I’ve just been doing more. Everybody knows Africa is not new to me and I’ve been working on projects there since 1994. I feel at peace on the continent. A very real inner peace.”

She also refused to be subject to previous criticisms from people like Oprah Winfrey and Barbara Walters. 

“I will not be held hostage to my past.”

Naomi Campbell also shared her thoughts of turning 50 next year.

“I’m not afraid of being 50. I’m looking forward to a good old dance, too. I want to make sure I dance the night away, surrounded by people I love and who have been with me through thick and thin. I just want us to be in a beautiful place I have chosen. Now it’s about working out the logistics.”

She added that while she has compassion for those who have suffered sexual abuse in the industry, that hasn’t been her experience.

“Of course I have empathy and concern for those it did happen to and I feel for their trauma, psychologically how it affects them. But it never happened to me…I didn’t see any of that s***, because thank God for my armour, my being called a bad b**** – I was lucky it never happened to me. I was protected by my angels Azzedine Alaïa, Gianni [Versace] and Yves Saint Laurent.”

She even confirmed that she’s dating!

“And it’s actually not someone that you know, but my heart… my heart is happy. I love a lot of people for different reasons. And the other thing that’s taken me a while to understand in my growing up is that you have to accept and love yourself first, and not be validated by someone else.”

What do you think about Naomi Campbell’s reason for not doing an all-Black show? Tell us in the comments.