Naomi Campbell turned to drugs, alcohol during rise to fame: ‘I was killing myself’

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Naomi Campbell candidly spoke out about suffering from substance abuse during her rise to stardom in the '90s. 

Campbell, now 53, admitted she was slowly "killing" herself with drugs at the start of her career in the AppleTV+ documentary, "The Super Models."

She was joined by Linda Evangelista, Christy Turlington and Cindy Crawford for the four-part behind-the-scenes look at their lives in the modeling industry.

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Naomi Campbell admitted she battled with drug and alcohol addiction in a new documentary. (Getty Images)

Campbell admitted she turned to drugs and alcohol to help cope with her suppressed feelings, especially when her dear friend Gianni Versace was murdered.

"Grief has been a very strange thing in my life because it doesn’t always [show]," Campbell explained. "I go into a shock and freak out when it actually happens, and then later is when I break. But I kept the sadness inside, I just dealt with it."

Versace was gunned down on the front steps of his building on July 15, 1997, while on his usual walk home from a nearby café. The gunman, Andrew Cunanan, was found dead days later after an extensive manhunt.

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"He was very sensitive to feeling me, like, he pushed me. He would push me to step outside and go further when I didn’t think I had it within myself to do it. So, when he died, my grief became very bad," she reflected.

Fashion designer Gianni Versace with model Naomi Campbell at the VH-1 Fashion awards in New York City, Dec. 3, 1995. (Getty Images)

Campbell confessed she attempted to "cover up" her grief during tumultuous times. 

"Addiction is such a – it’s just a bulls--- thing, it really is."

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"You think, ‘Oh, it’s going to heal that wound.’ It doesn’t. It can cause such huge fear and anxiety. So I got really angry." 

The supermodel said she checked into rehab in 1999 after she experienced a series of traumatic incidents, including collapsing at a photoshoot following a five-year cocaine addiction.

Naomi Campbell walked the runway during the PrettyLittleThing Designed by Naomi Campbell show at New York Fashion Week. (Getty Images)

"When you try to cover something up, your feelings… I tried to cover that with something. You can’t cover it. I was killing myself. It was very hurtful."

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Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, Christy Turlington and Linda Evangelista are in the docuseries "The Super Models." (Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for Vogue)

Campbell also faced abandonment issues from her parents, which she claimed were a major factor in her substance abuse. 

"It does still come up sometimes. But I just now have the tools to deal with it now when it comes up," Campbell stated in the docuseries. "I have to think of something outside of myself – something greater than myself."

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In June, the supermodel announced she welcomed her second child and first son in a since-deleted Instagram post.

Campbell announced the birth of her first child in May 2021.