Naomi Campbell Found Guilty of Assaulting a Paparazzo in Sicily

Naomi Campbell was found guilty in a Sicilian court for the assault of a paparazzo, but she is not likely to serve time in jail.

Naomi Campbell was found guilty in a Sicilian court on Friday for the assault of a paparazzo, but she is not likely to serve time in jail.


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While the 45-year-old British supermodel received a six-month suspended prison term, it is considered more like a probationary period. Typically, if the defendant does not break the law during the span of the suspended prison term, a judge will dismiss the sentence.

The conviction stems from an incident that occurred in Aug. 2009 when photographer Gaetano Di Giovanni was taking pictures of Campbell as she walked through the streets of the Sicilian island of Lipari. Campbell scratched Di Giovanni's eye with her purse, reportedly leaving him in need of medical treatment.


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Campbell was vacationing in the small town with her then-boyfriend, Russian billionaire Vladimir Doronin.

"My guess would be he was right up in her face," Michael Gross, author of Model: The Ugly Business of Beautiful Women, told ET. "Naomi has a temper. We all know Naomi has a temper."

Campbell has a history of inappropriate behavior, starting in 1999 when she went to rehab for a cocaine habit. The following year, she was found guilty for throwing her Blackberry at her assistant. Then, in 2007, she was found guilty of assaulting a housekeeper. Three years later, she knocked over a camera while storming out of an interview.

"I take responsibility for the things that I've done and I do feel a sense of shame," she told Oprah Winfrey during a sit-down interview.

"She's grown up," Gross said. "She's become a much calmer, wiser person, because even if you don't have a childhood, eventually you grow up."


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ET's Nischelle Turner got to see a softer side of Campbell when talking to her about her role on Empire.

"It's more than Dynasty anything!" Campbell gushed to ET. "You are just left on a cliffhanger every week."

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