Model Naomi Campbell Arrested

Supermodel Naomi Campbell has been arrested on suspicion of assaulting one of her assistants. The New York Police Department arrested Campbell at her Park Avenue home after she allegedly sent her housekeeper to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Naomi Campbell was arrested at 11:30am local time (ET), and was questioned at the Midtown North Precinct, according to reports from Forbes. This occurred after police has responded to Lennox Hill Hospital to investigate the alleged assault.

The victim of the alleged assault, a 42 year old Hispanic woman, went to Lennox Hill Hospital to receive treatment for her injuries. Four stitches were required to close the wound in her head. The wound was the result of Naomi Campbell supposedly hitting the woman in the head with a cell phone. The alleged assault occurred at 8:30am, shortly after the assistant was fired.

Naomi Campbell's publicist, Amanda Silverman, released a statement, claiming that this was an attempt at retaliation by the fired housekeeper. As the BBC reports, the statement read "We believe this to be a case of retaliation, because Naomi had fired her housekeeper earlier this morning. We are confident the courts will see it the same way"

There have been various quotes made by different members of the NYPD. The Telegraph quoted Detective Theresa Farello as saying "The woman was taken to hospital where she is undergoing medical attention for a laceration to her head." She went on to say "Naomi was transferred to a police precinct where she will get her charges. She will be charged with assault."

E Online grabbed quotes from New York City Police spokesperson Lieutenant Gene White. White said that the assistant was struck on the back of the head "by an object". White also said Naomi Campbell was arrested without incident from her Park Avenue, Manhattan, home. "She's a tiny little thing. She's not going to give two NYPD detectives any trouble."

This is not the first time Naomi Campbell has had trouble with the law. In February 2000, Campbell pleaded guilty in a Canadian court to assaulting an assistant, Georgina Galanis. The incident took place while Campbell was filming in Toronto two years prior. Galanis had claimed that the supermodel had grabbed her by the throat and held her as Campbell hit her in the head with a phone. In a deal reached between Naomi Campbell's lawyers and Canadian prosecutors, Campbell was an "absolute discharge", meaning that she would not receive a criminal record in Canada.

The incident in Canada was not the only prior assault allegation. As Forbes reports "This was not the first time that Campbell allegedly reached out and touched someone with a phone. In 2003, the supermodel was sued by a former administrative assistant who alleged that Campbell had thrown a phone at her during a tantrum two years earlier."

Naomi Campbell, 35, has had an illustrious career for a long amount of time. Her first widely-seen performance was as a pupil in reggae superstar Bob Marley's music video, "Is This Love?" in 1978, at just 8 years of age. Campbell, who grew up in South London, got her start at age 15, and became the first black model on Vogue magazine's British and French editions. She was also the first black model to appear on the cover of Time magazine. Naomi Campbell has been one of the most recognizable fashion models, having worked with Ralph Lauren, Versace and Louis Vuitton.

Her other accolades include film appearances in To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything! Julie Newmar and Trippin'. She has also been in music videos for Michael Jackson and Jay-Z. Campbell also ghost-wrote a novel entitled Swan, about a supermodel that was being blackmailed.

Her feuds, however, have been far more prominent. For years, she had been involved in feuds with Tyra Banks and Spice Girl Victoria Beckham. As well, Campbell had been embroiled in a lawsuit with The Daily Mirror over photos showing Campbell leaving a Narcotics Anonymous meeting. Naomi eventually won the lawsuit. Naomi had been battling an addiction to a cocaine-like substance, though she has recovered and is clean now.

Naomi also attributes her temper to lingering resentment towards her father's abandonment of her as a child. As Reuters reported, "'I've not always displayed my anger in the appropriate time,' she said in a 2000 TV interview in which she said she had attended a U.S. clinic to help manage her anger. 'It's a manifestation of a deeper issue, I think. And that, to me, I think is based on insecurity, self-esteem and loneliness.'"

[Additional Sources: Forbes, BBC, E Online, Reuters]