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Naomi: I'm a martyr fighting for rights of T5 passengers
Harold Emert and Robert Mendick16 Apr 2008
Supermodel Naomi Campbell has declared herself a Terminal Five martyr fighting for the rights of all passengers caught up in the Heathrow baggage debacle.
Campbell was arrested at Heathrow and banned from all British Airways flights after a blazing row over her missing luggage.
She has now hit back at the airline, claiming that, far from being banned, BA is desperate for her custom.
In an interview in a Brazilian newspaper today, she alleged that BA had pleaded with her to use their planes again and that she was refusing to do so in a stand against the catastrophic failings of the £4.3 billion Terminal Five.
Campbell, 37, who flew to Rio from London on the Brazilian national carrier TAM, was reported as saying: "Someone from BA called me and asked that I return to fly with them but this will not occur so early. They didn't find my bag - said it wasn't in the system - and there was a complete disrespect for the passengers.
"You Brazilians went through the same problem last year [after an air traffic controllers' strike]. The case in Terminal 5 at Heathrow was the same thing and I am not speaking for myself. I am speaking for all those who have been disrespected."
A spokesman for BA said today: "We have not confirmed or denied that any passenger has been banned," but a BA insider told the Evening Standard: "We are not aware of any pleading phone calls to Ms Campbell."
Campbell was arrested and handcuffed on 3 April and escorted off a BA flight to Los Angeles after she allegedly spat at a police officer.
It was not the first time she has been involved in a disturbance at Heathrow, having been banned from a flight in September for arriving too late for take-off, prompting her to fly into a rage.
After the incident two weeks ago, BA banned her until further notice while her spokeswoman pleaded for clemency, declaring: "Naomi has been flying for nearly 30 years and has been a good customer. She hopes this can be resolved amicably."
Campbell, a regular visitor to Rio, is there to help fight an epidemic of dengue fever. She offered to give blood but was rejected because she underwent a cyst removal operation recently.
Reader views (8)
This woman is priceless. How precisely is she fighting dengue fever? Wacking mosquitoes with her mobile phone? Or spitting at them?
She seemingly has no sense of ownership of her own feelings and no ability to take responsibility for her behaviour. And if she thinks she's a martyr, she's an irony free zone. Joan of Arc was a martyr, Nelson Mandela was a martyr, Saint Peter was a martyr... er Naomi Campbell hardly stands up in comparison, does she? There's no record of Saint Joan spitting at the Dauphin, or the English martyrs chucking their bibles at the heads of their gaolers. Give it a rest Naomi, there's a dear. Oh and you might try getting your money back from that anger management course you went on, it obviously didn't work. Go in and spit at them until they give you your cheque back; then hold it aloft proclaiming your martyrdom and go out and spend it on some new shoes, the cost of which could feed a family suffering dengue fever, for a month. You loon.
<ducks to avoid the mobile phone whizzing past>
- Jeanjeannie, Rochester, Kent, 17/04/2008 21:47
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I am amazed that she is helping those who are in Brazil who are suffering from Dengue Fever, I just hope she is stays safe herself while she is down there. It is brave to help people in Brazil but I am not sure it is to wise to be there if its that bad; there may be other ways to help like drawing awareness in the North America and in Europe
As for British Airways Naomi did what most people would have done; the problem is they have a faulty system with their passenger luggage and it needs to be addressed; not putting it off on Naomi Campbell but fixing a problem that has affected thousands of people including her.
- John Iii, Philadelphia, USA, 17/04/2008 01:40
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I noticed on Wednesday that you decided to devote 20% of a page to the tragic suicide of Mark Speight, and the other 80% to a vain publicity-seeking idiot who can't control her temper. Might you have your priorities wrong? Many other people were frustrated by lost baggage at T5, but how many had to be arrested for allegedly spitting at a police officer? Naomi Campbell has apparently stated that BA have pleaded with her to use their planes. I think anyone with sense would find this hard to believe, yet it has been give space in your newspaper. I cannot imagine why BA would want such a volatile person flying with them. Is this a case of Naomi having her dummy removed before she can spit it out, then saying she didn't want it anyway? She claims to speak "for all those who have been disrespected". Who does she think has disrespected whom? The police officer who had the temerity to be spat at? Or BA, who must have trampled all over poor Ms Campbell's feelings by considering passenger safety more important than her tantrum?
- John Orchard, Walthamstow, London, 17/04/2008 00:35
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And to which cause was she a martyr when she hurled her mobile phone at her maid? Campbell is a sad, laughable figure desperate for any good press.
- Jimmy Q, London, 17/04/2008 00:15
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I was stuck at T5 when it opened and yes its no fun, but the only thing to do is keep your cool and find a solution. If Ms Campbell had any sense she would realise that she has enough money to buy everything new in 2 minutes, so what's all the nagging about...please get a life and stop bothering the rest of the world with your out of control behaviour, show a little respect, you do not get arrested for nothing! Are you ever going to learn? Put your energy in things that really matter!
- Inge, London, 16/04/2008 22:45
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She may be correct on this one. But these 'Celebs' who truly believe themselves to be 'Specially Different' from the rest of the Earthlings often try to excuse their bad behaviour by telling everyone that are 'stressed', or that they are truly 'Special and Different'. They are not!
- B Clark, Chelmsford Essex UK, 16/04/2008 17:47
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British Airways lost all of Kate Moss's luggage too but they did not have the guts to tell her and just let her assistant search for it in LAX all day!
They stink as an airline, having been the worst for baggage losses for years now! When are they going to get their house in order?
- Chloe, London, 16/04/2008 17:14
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I'm with Naomi on this one. I reckon that this time around BA are the villains, not her.
And wish her luck in the dengue fever campaign. It's badly needed in Brazil!
- Mary, London, UK, 16/04/2008 15:25
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