Singer Jessica Simpson has been criticised for allegedly taking an unscheduled $1500 safari whilst in the middle of a 10-day charity visit to Kenya. The singer apparently spent just two days with operation Smile – a charity repairing facial deformities in children – and then insisted she was too ill to visit more local children. A representative for the charity says, “Jessica got sick, like people do, and couldn’t get out of bed.” They claim the safari was “scheduled downtime”. But the excuse has been challenged by a hotel insider who alleges, “Jessica was not ill, no doctor was called out to see her.” The reality TV star’s trip is thought to have cost $18,200. [11 November 2005]