Naomi Campbell: 'I'm worth every cent'

Naomi Campbell: 'I'm worth every cent'
Naomi Campbell is not only one of the world's most omnipresent and enduring supermodels, she's also a marketing maestro. She never diets or works out but loves lasagna, cigarettes and a good chardonnay. No question, supermodel Naomi Campbell works hard. And all those multimillion-dollar contracts? "I'm worth every cent," she had famously quipped.
Twenty years in the fashion business. That is quite something. What kept you going for so long?
It is crazy to look back and think it has been 20 years! But I love what I do — always have and always will!
Didn't you ever feel bored?
No, I find the work that I do, the experiences I have had and the amazing people I have met along the way, inspiring and incredible.
Why do you feel that even after so many years, there is only one Naomi Campbell?
I think it goes back to being passionate about what you do — I love my job and enjoy doing it. I also do think I am a bit of a character.
You are a British whose complexion stands out. Was it difficult breaking into the white fashion fraternity?
There were certainly some boundaries when I started and it's still not a perfect world. But there was also an incredible iconic woman, Iman, for us to look up to. There were doors that needed to be opened and I consider it a great achievement to be there to help do so.
Did you ever curse your complexion?
Never!

Naomi Campbell Personal life:

Relationships
In late 2004 she had a high profile relationship with Usher, although by 2005 their relationship appeared to be over. In the 1990s Campbell dated Robert de Niro, and dancer Joaquin Cortes. She was rumored to have a brief relationship with Mike Tyson in the late 1980s. She also dated Adam Clayton, the bassist in the Irish rock band U2.

Legal troubles
She is reputed to have a temper, with several alleged cases involving violence against her staff(often involving a thrown cell phone), as well as verbal abuse. In 2000, she pleaded guilty in a Toronto court to a 1998 assault on Georgina Galanis, her then assistant; Campbell had assaulted Galanis with a telephone in a hotel room and threatened to throw her out of a moving car. Under an agreement with the prosecution her record was cleared in exchange for her expressing remorse; Campbell also paid Galanis an undisclosed amount of money and agreed to attend anger management classes.
In February 2001 pictures were published in the Daily Mirror newspaper showing Campbell leaving a Narcotics Anonymous meeting in London. In March of 2002 Campbell sued the paper citing a breach of confidentiality, as she was receiving treatment for drug addiction at the time. The Mirror claimed that the pictures were in the public interest as Campbell had denied having a drug problem publicly and had, up to that point, not been known or proved to be a drug addict. The High Court ruled in Campbell's favour and the Mirror was ordered to pay £3,500 in damages (although legal costs were thought to be around £500,000.) In October of 2002, the Mirror won an Appeal Court ruling that the photographs were indeed in the public interest. Campbell was ordered to pay the costs of the Mirror's legal fees, a cost of around £350,000. However, in May of 2004, the Law Lords overturned the Appeal Court ruling by a 3 to 2 majority, which reinstated the High Court's original decision, and Campbell was rewarded £3,500 and the £350,000 legal costs. The Mirror's legal cost is thought to be over £1,000,000. The case is also thought to be a landmark in the rights of celebrities to privacy.
Campbell was most recently arrested on March 30 2006 in New York City for allegedly assaulting her assistant with a cell phone. She was charged with second-degree assault, a felony that carries a minimum sentence of one year in prison.