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Naomi Campbell has hit back at Anna Wintour after the Vogue editor made a dig at the model’s notorious lateness while she waited to present her with an award – for which she turned up predictably late.
Campbell, 54, was due to be honoured with the Fashion Icon Award at Harlem’s Fashion Show and Style event. But reports suggest Wintour eventually left, forcing Samira Nasr, the editor-in-chief of Harper’s Bazaar to present it instead.
During her introduction, Wintour said “I am a very punctual person, and I have the honour of presenting tonight to someone who is often late.”
True to her reputation, Campbell appeared to the awards behind schedule, by which time Wintour had left, according to USA Today.
Campbell hit back at the earlier comments as she said, “Yes, Naomi’s always late. But I believe in my high power, and I want to thank my higher power for having me be here.”
She then said she preferred to have Nasr present, jokingly adding, “Everything’s going to work out the way it’s meant to work out.
“It wasn’t my choice to have the other lady [Wintour]. I’d much rather have this.”
The final remark caused an audible stir in the room as the comment appeared pointed and has been perceived as a dig towards Wintour, by social media users.
Wintour called Campbell, “bold, bright and entirely, unquestionably herself” in her introduction. The pair have paid respect to each other in the past, with Wintour fighting to have the model as the first black person on the cover of the magazine in 1989.
“Anna gave me such a great opportunity and I had no idea how much she had to fight for that,“ Campbell told CNN.
Actor Joanna Lumley has previously shared that the model was almost dismissed from the set of Absolutely Fabulous for turning up three hours late in the 1990s.
Speaking to Page Six, Lumley recollected a stern floor manager telling Campbell: “You’re working with a lot of very professional actresses. They all pitched up on time, and they know their lines. Darling, you’ll do that tomorrow, or you’re out.”
Fortunately, Campbell took heed of the warning and showed up at 9am the following day.
“So maybe in her past, nobody’s ever asked her to be on time – they just expected her to be a diva,” her co-actor Jennifer Saunders chipped in.
