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CNN Live At Daybreak

Naomi Campbell Wins Privacy Lawsuit Against Tabloid

Aired March 27, 2002 - 05:45   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: As I told you before the break, a verdict has just been announced in supermodel Naomi Campbell's privacy lawsuit. She is seeking damages against a tabloid newspaper for reporting that she was attending meetings of Narcotics Anonymous.

Our Matthew Chance is live in London with the verdict.

Matthew, what was it?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Carol, outside the High Court here, quite a surprise for all the assembled members of the press that have gathered to hear that the verdict went in favor of Naomi Campbell. The judge ruled that the newspaper here that carried those photographs, called "The Mirror," was in breach of Naomi Campbell's privacy and they awarded her 3,500 pounds or just over $5,000 in damages and compensation. So a pretty nominal cash penalty that "The Mirror" has to pay. And in exchange for that of course, they get to rake over the private life of Naomi Campbell in the press for weeks. And so a bit of a double-edged sword, a double-edged blow there for Naomi Campbell in this -- in this victory in the courts.

COSTELLO: What did you mean by that, Matthew, that they get to rake her over in the tabloids after paying this $5,000 fine?

CHANCE: Well of course the trial has been reported extensively in the British press, the ins and outs of the -- of the -- of the way that Naomi Campbell was attending this clinic for treatment for her drug addiction. Ironically, members of "The Mirror" newspaper that I've spoken to out here say that the very fact that the newspaper reported this story and the way it did, it did it in a very sort of caring way, saying that Naomi Campbell was courageously trying to battle her addiction against drugs by attending therapy, that was deemed to be an invasion of her privacy. Whereas if they had in fact just said Naomi Campbell is a drug addict and reported it as sort of a criminal expose, that would not have been subject to the same kind of laws and the same kind of judgement that we've seen passed down today.

COSTELLO: I understand. So in essence, even though she has had problems with drug in her past, she wasn't having problems with drugs when the tabloid printed the story that she was going to Narcotics Anonymous?

CHANCE: I think -- I think simply that it's not been, you know, clear to us what her current condition is regarding drugs. The fact is that the court found that the way "The Mirror" reported the story that she was attending therapy for her drug addiction was an invasion of privacy. As I say, instead of just come out and said we've got evidence that Naomi Campbell is a drug addict, here are some photos saying she's attending a drug rehabilitation clinic, that would have been an entirely different story.

COSTELLO: Got you. I understand now.

Thank you. Matthew Chance, reporting for us live from London where Naomi Candle -- Naomi Campbell has been successful in her lawsuit against a British tabloid.

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