“Can you confirm that you are dating Naomi Campbell?” a reporter asked.

“I’m a married man,” Howard responded. “Quincy Jones did ask me to look after her and to talk to her. The same way Mr. Richard Parsons [Chairman and Chief Executive Officer] called me into his office and said, ‘Mr. Howard, I don’t know anything about your personal life, but your public persona is on par with Sen. Barack and so I want you to talk to Quincy.’

“And so I called Quincy and Quincy had dinner with me and introduced me to Naomi, and that’s what I’m doing. As a human being, as a friend, that’s what we’re supposed to do. The media may attack me but my responsibility is to this black woman who has established something amazing and has opened doors to so many others. My responsibility is to my elders and I’m going to listen to them.

“I’m going to keep my friendship with her. And hopefully one day people will look at her for her contributions and stop looking at her for her faults. That’s my hope.”

Labels: Naomi Campbell, Terrence Howard