The chauffeur who claimed Naomi Campbell hit him while they were driving
through New York on Tuesday has withdrawn his complaint, saying he
“overreacted” during an argument with the British supermodel.
Limousine driver Miodrag Mejdina issued an apologetic statement through
his
lawyers yesterday, less than 48 hours after which he alleged to police
that
Ms Campbell had attacked him from the back seat of the car.
"On March 2nd, I had an argument with Naomi Campbell, I got angry and
overreacted. It was a misunderstanding and I regret involving the
police,"
the statement said.
"This whole thing has been blown out of proportion and I apologise to Ms
Campbell for causing that to happen."
Mr Mejdina had alleged that Campbell, 39, had flown into a rage after
arguing
with her billionaire Russian boyfriend while driving through Manhattan.
According to police, Mr Mejdina had complained that Campbell had hit him
while he was driving, causing him to hit his head on the steering wheel.
He
said she had then left the scene on foot after he stopped the black
Cadillac
Escalade and went to talk to a traffic police officer about the
incident.
Police had searched for the model and issued a harassment report.
Campbell, who has faced previous allegations of assaulting staff, has
now
escaped a new criminal case after Mr Mejdina, 27, declined to press
charges.
The Streatham-born supermodel issued a statement saying the matter was
closed
and that she just wanted "to put the last few days behind me and move
on."
“I was accused of unacceptable behaviour towards a driver in New York,"
Campbell said in a statement. "I have worked very hard on correcting my
previous wrongdoings and I will not be held hostage to my past."
"I try to treat everyone with respect and I am pleased the driver has
apologised. I would like to put the last few days behind me and move
on."
Campbell leapt to fame in the late 1980s when she became the first black
model
to appear on the cover of French and British Vogue.
But her legendary tantrums have triggered a series of lawsuits and
criminal
charges by staff who claim they were abused. In 2008, she pleaded guilty
to
assaulting police officers at London's Heathrow Airport after going in a
rage over missing luggage. She also pleaded guilty to throwing her
crystal-studded mobile phone at a maid in New York in 2007. She was
sentenced to perform a week of community service, scrubbing toilets and
sweeping floors at a dustbin van depot in Manhattan.
In 2000, Campbell also pleaded guilty to assault in Toronto for
assaulting an
assistant who said the model hit her in the head with a mobile phone.