Naomi Campbell was all smiles as she arrived on the red carpet at the Swarovski Fashionation at the Palazzo Reale Hotel in Milan Tuesday night.
The supermodel was recently involved in a public dispute with Cadbury over a highly controversial new ad for their chocolate bar. “Move over, Naomi, there’s a new diva in town,” the offensive advertisement read. “I’m the world’s most pampered bar.”
Campbell, however, was not amused and fired back at the British candy-makers with the following statement:
“I am shocked. It’s upsetting to be described as chocolate, not just for me, but for all black women and black people. I do not find any humour in this. It is insulting and hurtful.”
Her mother even gave her opinion on the matter, saying: “I’m deeply upset….Do these people think they can insult black people and we just take it? This is the 21st century, not the 1950’s. Shame on Cadbury.”
The company, owned by Kraft Foods, has since taken the ad down, and offered up an apology on their official website.
“It was not our intention that this campaign should offend Naomi, her family or anybody else and we are sincerely sorry that it has done so,” their apologetic statement read. “We can confirm that the advertisement is no longer in circulation and we will not be using it in future marketing….We have been in discussions with Naomi’s solicitors and can confirm that they have accepted our apology on her behalf as a conclusion to this issue.”
Once Naomi Campbell caught wind of Cadbury’s apology, which she says came way too late, she told the Guardian: “The advertisement was in poor taste on a number of levels, not least in the way they likened me to their chocolate bar. It is also a shame that it took so long for Cadbury to offer this apology.”
That doesn’t sound like an acceptance to us!
Check out 10+ pics of Naomi at the Swarovski Fashionation event in Italy below:
