LONDON - Three appeal court judges ruled Monday that a British newspaper was justified in publishing a photo of Naomi Campbell leaving a drug addiction center, as the model had lied to the news media about her drug problems.

Earlier this year, a High Court judge ordered the Daily Mirror tabloid to pay Campbell $5,425 in damages and meet her court costs, reportedly $310,000, after he ruled the newspaper had breached her right to confidentiality by running the story in February 2001.

Three judges sitting at the Court of Appeal in London on Monday upheld the newspaper's appeal and said the report was justified in the public interest.

Lord Phillips, the senior civil judge in England, said Campbell had gone out of her way to tell the news media that she, unlike other models, did not take stimulants or tranquilizers.

"This was untrue. She had, in fact, become addicted to drugs," Phillips said. "Where a public figure chooses to make untrue pronouncements about his, or her, private life, the press will normally be entitled to put the record straight."

Campbell, who was not in court Monday, said in a statement that she'd sued the Mirror to establish her right to privacy and to ensure that she and others could receive therapy without media intrusion.

"I do not think it so terrible or extraordinary to want to keep private the fact that you have problems and are seeking treatment," the 32-year-old said.

"The idea that because you deny something about your private life, automatically entitles the media to publish otherwise private information, seems to me to be very harsh indeed."