Troubled British supermodel Kate Moss got sympathetic words on Friday after she apologised following allegations of cocaine abuse that saw her high-profile catwalk career crumble around her.
British cosmetics giant Rimmel, which has featured Moss in its advertising since 2001, welcomed her statement late Thursday, offering the 31-year-old some hope of at least holding on to her lucrative deal with them.
In the space of a week, Moss’s career — one of the most successful in modelling history — has fallen apart, as Swedish fashion retailer H and M and British trench-coat house Burberry dropped her like a hot potato.
Moss issued a public apology on Thursday and accepted “full responsibility” for her actions, a week after a British tabloid published grainy video stills of her allegedly snorting the powdery drug.
Lurid tales about alleged drug-fuelled orgies have since appeared in the press.
Coty Beauty, which manages the Rimmel brand, said: “In light of this statement, and Kate’s determination to address these issues, Coty Beauty is currently reviewing its relationship with her and will continue to do so.”
It added that it was “pleased to acknowledge the statement released by Kate Moss apologising for her recent actions”.
“We would like to express our support for all those who undertake the often difficult process of overcoming their problems.”
The statement was a marked contrast to teenage-oriented Rimmel’s initial strongly-worded response on Thursday in which it said it was “shocked and dismayed” and threatened to tear up its contract with her.
Moss’s apology may be enough to stem the tide of companies ditching her. Besides H and M and Burberry, her deal with upmarket French fashion house Chanel will not be renewed when it expires next month, while Gloria Vanderbilt has distanced itself from the model.
Moss, believed to have taken refuge this week in New York, said she wanted to apologise to all those she had let down and had begun to take the difficult steps needed to resolve “personal issues”.
The images in the Daily Mirror tabloid on September 15 showed Moss allegedly sniffing cocaine in a west London music studio where her rock-star boyfriend Pete Doherty, a self-confessed drug addict, was recording.
Adding to Moss’s woes, London’s Metropolitan Police said it would look into the drug allegations to see whether she should face criminal charges.
Moss, who has a two-year-old daughter with ex-partner and magazine publisher Jefferson Hack, could also face an investigation by social services in Westminster, the London borough in which she lives.
Social workers could step in if and when police report that a child is suffering because of drug abuse by its parents. – AFP