On February 15, 2024, South Africa-based Kenyan chess champion and comedian, Elsa Majimbo, responded to fans who wanted her to talk about Naomi Campbell, her presumed mentor. In a now-deleted TikTok video, Elsa revealed how she met the British supermodel, what happened between them and their current relationship.
In her usual indoor video style, sharing events in her life with her followers while slathering on shea butter like it’s going out of style, Elsa laid it all out. She went down memory lane to December 2020 — the first time the two met.
Naomi was in Nairobi for the third time since 2018, and Elsa texted her on IG to ask if they could meet. Elsa was one of many content creators who’d gone viral during the pandemic lockdown early in the year. Naomi shot her the location. Without wasting time, Elsa and her brother went there, and the supermodel offered them a getaway trip with her.
Elsa was eager to hang out with one of the most iconic models in the world. According to her, they had a great time together. This was likely when Naomi stayed at an exclusive resort in Malindi, Kenya, owned by her boyfriend at the time, Italian businessman, Flavio Briatore.
As seen on an episode of Naomi’s vlog, “Being Naomi”, Elsa and Naomi shopped, tried some makeup on and decorated a Christmas tree together. Later that month, Elsa was on Naomi’s “No Filter With Naomi” show to discuss her rising fame on TikTok.
In another episode of “Being Naomi” in January 2021, Naomi shared her New Year’s Eve skincare routine with Elsa.
READ: An Elsa Majimbo Guide to Glowing for Dark-Skinned People
One day on the beach, Naomi suggested that Elsa should make a documentary on her life in Kenya. Then she introduced Elsa to some Hollywood folks, and sometime after the vacation, Elsa hung out with members of Naomi’s team at Kempinski, a five-star luxury hotel in Nairobi. This was when one of them spilled that Naomi had told them she was behind Elsa’s success. Elsa set the record straight by explaining when and how they met.
In June 2021, Naomi celebrated Elsa’s 20th birthday with a post on her IG page. Nothing seemed wrong between them at the time.
Elsa fast forwarded to March 2022 when Naomi called to query her about her short film, Elsa — a 15-minute film about her experience with colourism, bullying and comedy, directed by Julia Jansch. Naomi thought Elsa had executed her documentary idea without her.
Busy Elsa promised to continue the conversation the following day but couldn’t due to a tight flight schedule. It took Elsa 24 hours to return Naomi’s call. By this time, Naomi told her it would be their last chat and wished her a good life. Elsa respected her decision and stayed out of her way.
But according to Elsa, “Things started going very badly for me. I thought it was because of the situation [with Naomi], but I wanted to be sure.” While this supposed negative turn in her career wasn’t visible to the public, she tried to call Naomi and sent apology texts. She got no response until Naomi texted her to stop trying to contact her.
An encounter with Edward Enninful, ex-editor-in-chief of British Vogue, made Elsa realise the gravity of the issue. So she contacted one of Naomi’s close friends to facilitate communication between them.
In January 2023, Naomi wished Elsa a happy new year.
Throughout the eight-minute-long TikTok video, Elsa never stopped creaming her body. But she ended the video acknowledging the access and credibility Naomi’s cosign gave her. Their relationship remains strained. “We’re not friends. We’re not enemies. We’re not anything.”
She returned to X on February 18, 2024, to explain her now viral TikTok video in a now deleted tweet.
Responding to a comment under the tweet, she stated that the situation even pushed her into alcoholism.
Some hours later, she put out another tweet clarifying that Naomi didn’t push her to the bottle, the situation did.
In the early hours of February 19, 2024, Elsa tweeted that even though she deleted the tweet, she stands by her words but wants to take the peace route.
In her responses to the comments under this new post, Elsa said Naomi threatened to sue her and post a screenshot of a time Elsa asked her for help against some predatory older white executives. One wonders how the second part would incriminate Elsa.
But all Elsa wants is the public’s listening ears.
Naomi Campbell hasn’t commented on the viral video and tweets as of the time of publishing.
Psst! Have you seen our Valentine’s Special yet? We brought back three couples we interviewed in 2019 – one now with kids, one now married and the last, still best friends – to share how their relationships have evolved over the previous five years. Watch the first episode below:
