image: telegraph uk
Woah! Talk a bout a take down! In a follow up to a previous story that I reported about on Thursday, today actress and Woody Allen ex Mia Farrow (who was also a guest at Mandela’s house) took the stand today in the trial of former Liberian Dictator Charles Taylor who is accused of horrific war crimes and who allegedly gave supermodel Naomi Campbell “Blood Diamonds” at Nelson Mandela’s house in 1997. Farrow completed discounted Campbell’s previous testimony in which the model said that didn’t know the “stones” she received were Blood Diamonds. In fact, according to AOL News, here is Farrow’s version of events:
“She told judges that when Campbell came to breakfast the following morning, she began gushing about the gift before ‘she even sat down.’ The star of Rosemary’s Baby said that the model boasted, ‘Oh my God, in the middle of night I was awakened by knocking at the door. It was men sent by Charles Taylor and he sent me … a huge diamond.”’
And Carol White-Naomi’s former modeling agent-corroborated Mia’s side of the story, saying that Naomi knew who was behind the gift and was “mildly flirting” with the Liberian Dictator. White went on to say :
“I think whilst we were eating, Naomi leant back and Charles Taylor leant forward, Naomi Campbell was very excited and she told me he was going to give her some diamonds.”
White then waited with Campbell for the delivery of the diamonds to Mandela’s guesthouse.
“We were sitting around this lounge area at about 10 o’clock at night and we were waiting for these men to arrive,” White continued. “She was in communication with them by phone — most likely by text. Someone was informing her that the car was nearly there.”
“The guys came in and they sat down in the lounge and we sat opposite them … they then took out a quite scruffy paper and they handed it to Miss Campbell and said: ‘These are the diamonds’,” White explained. “She opened them and showed them to me. They were quite disappointing because they weren’t shiny.”
According to Campbell’s and White’s testimony, the supermodel never left the country with the diamonds, but rather left them with Jeremy Ratcliffe-the then director of Mandela’s charity. Ratcliffe agreed with this portion of the testimony.
Thoughts?
