Naomi Campbell wins libel case over elephant polo

LONDON (AP) — Model Naomi Campbell accepted libel damages Thursday from a British newspaper over a story that falsely claimed she was planning an elephant polo match in India for her partner’s birthday.

The November article in the Daily Telegraph said Campbell was going to organize the tournament in Jodhpur for partner Vladimir Doronin’s 50th birthday. The article included criticisms from animal-welfare activists.

Campbell’s lawyer Gideon Benaim told a judge at London’s High Court that the story was “simply false and the criticisms unfounded.”

He said the article was widely republished in the Indian press and elsewhere, including over the Internet, “attracting a storm of adverse publicity against Ms. Campbell.”

Julia Varley, lawyer for the Daily Telegraph’s publisher, told the court the newspaper regretted running the article.

The 42-year-old model said in a statement that the allegations should never have been published. But she said she was “glad that the matter has been resolved and I accept the newspaper’s apology.”

The amount of the damages, described as “substantial,” was not disclosed.