British Airways called me golliwog: Naomi Campbell

London, June 22 : Looks like Naomi Campbell can't get enough of controversies. The supermodel has sparked further fury in the wake of her air-rage assault trial by claiming she was called a "gollywog supermodel" by a member of British Airways staff.

The 38-year-old has claimed that she was verbally abused by one of the airline's personnel, and the jibe had helped to fuel the violent and aggressive behaviour, which eventually saw her charged with assault.

The allegations were made in a recent interview, during which she branded British Airways "disgusting", and made a number of other implications that the company was guilty of racism.

"I was called a racial name on that flight, and that was part of my reaction. I was called a 'gollywog supermodel', and I don't think that's really fair, do you?" The Scotsman quoted her, as saying.

When asked who had made the comment, Campbell looked away and said: "Someone on the flight", before adding "not the passenger".

She said: "I've had to leave all that out of court, and leave all that out of my statement, because, at the end of the day, I took my upset out, and the end of my wrath came out, on the police, which was wrong. It wasn't their fault, they were doing their job. But I think British Airways have a lot of apologies to make."

The incident took place in April during the chaos at Heathrow caused by the Terminal 5 fiasco.

Campbell was waiting for her first-class Los Angeles-bound flight to take off, and is reported to have flown into a rage and launched a foul-mouthed tirade of abuse at the captain, when told one of her bags was "missing in the system".

The police were eventually called, and escorted a protesting Campbell from the aircraft. It is understood the missing bag contained an Yves Saint Laurent suit she had been contracted to wear on a US chatshow.

ANI