Chrissy Teigen has apologized for bullying. Her targets say they're still trying to heal.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Model, TV host and cookbook author Chrissy Teigen published a lengthy post on Monday, acknowledging she'd been a troll on Twitter and apologizing for the hurt she'd caused those who had been caught in her past social media crosshairs.
But Teigen, as she stated in her post, has a long history of bullying on social media, and some of her targets are speaking out.
"I've apologized publicly to one person, but there are others — and more than just a few — who I need to say I'm sorry to. I'm in the process of privately reaching out to the people I insulted. ... There is simply no excuse for my past horrible tweets. My targets didn't deserve them. No one does," Teigen wrote, adding that she understands if some people do not want to speak to her.
I have tried to connect with Courtney privately but since I publicly fueled all this, I want to also publicly apologize. I'm so sorry, Courtney. I hope you can heal now knowing how deeply sorry I am.
— chrissy teigen (@chrissyteigen) May 12, 2021
Teigen's apology comes after an interview model and television personality Courtney Stodden did with The Daily Beast, which was published on May 10. In the interview, Stodden, who is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns, recalled how Teigen had sent them cruel direct messages and nasty tweets when they were a teenager.
"She wouldn't just publicly tweet about wanting me to take 'a dirt nap' but would privately DM me and tell me to kill myself. Things like, 'I can't wait for you to die,'" Stodden told The Daily Beast.
The backlash following that interview was swift, and on May 12, Teigen tweeted saying she was "mortified and sad" about how she acted, saying she was "an insecure, attention seeking troll."
"I am ashamed and completely embarrassed at my behavior but that is nothing compared to how I made Courtney feel. ... I have tried to connect with Courtney privately but since I publicly fueled all this, I want to also publicly apologize. I'm so sorry, Courtney. I hope you can heal now knowing how deeply sorry I am," Teigen tweeted.
Stodden later said they accepted the apology, but added they had not heard from Teigen privately.
"I accept her apology and forgive her. But the truth remains the same, I have never heard from her or her camp in private," Stodden wrote in an Instagram post.
They went on to write that Teigen had blocked them on Twitter.
https://www.instagram.com/p/COyXxWNBqxB
"All of me wants to believe this is a sincere apology, but it feels like a public attempt to save her partnerships with Target and other brands who are realizing her 'wokeness' is a broken record," Stodden wrote.
Teigen's cookware line was dropped by Target, but the retailer confirmed to Page Six that the decision had been made mutually prior to the fallout from Teigen's previous online behavior. Page Six reported that Macy's did remove Teigen's cookware line from its website following the backlash.
Additionally, Teigen dropped out of the Netflix comedy "Never Have I Ever," for which she was supposed to provide a voice role in one episode of the second season of the Mindy Kaling-created series, after the Stodden backlash, according to Variety.
After Stodden came forward with their revelations about Teigen's behavior, other began to discuss interactions they had with the former Twitter darling.
Farrah Abraham, one of the former teen mothers featured on the MTV show "16 and Pregnant" and "Teen Mom," also published a post on Medium on Tuesday, which in part addressed Teigen's bullying.
Chrissy Teigen addresses recent accusations of cyberbullying
In 2013, Teigen tweeted about Abraham following the release of a pornographic home video the former teen mom had sold for nearly $1 million, according to Us Magazine.
"Farrah Abraham now thinks she is pregnant from her sex tape. In other news you're a whore and everyone hates you," Teigen wrote. "Whoops not other news, sorry."
It appears that tweet has since been deleted. In her post, Abraham claimed Teigen had not apologized to her.
"An apology maybe due to me only in Chrissy's eyes but as a mother there's also an apology due to my child who has to witness the aftermath of remarks publicly that not only affects her mom but her," Abraham wrote. "This mentally affects children and their time with their mothers. Those who hurt mother's are also responsible for hurting their children."
https://www.instagram.com/p/CQHebgPNmmr
Also this week, fashion designer Michael Costello detailed an interaction he had on social media with Teigen in 2014 that he said left him traumatized to this day with "thoughts of suicide."
"So many nights I stayed awake, wanting to kill myself," Costello wrote in an Instagram post. "I didn't see the point of living. There was no way I can ever escape from being the target of the powerful elites in Hollywood, who actually do have powers to close doors with a single text."
Costello said that in 2014, Teigen accused him of being a racist when falsified tweets purporting to be from Costello circulated online.
Teigen's representatives did not immediately return a request for comment from NBC News about Costello's post.
Costello's post went on to claim that he would be pulled from jobs, last minute, after discovering Teigen was allegedly threatening brands that worked with him.
In direct messages shared in the post, which NBC News has not independently verified, Costello pleads with Teigen to hear him out, writing that the racist tweets were photoshopped.
"Good! Racist people like you deserve to suffer and die. You might as well be dead. Your career is over, just watch," Teigen allegedly wrote.
If you or someone you know is at risk of suicide, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255, text TALK to 741741 or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional resources.
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Amazing when people hold themselves in such high regard that they feel it fine to attack others for their lifestyle.
Sadly she, Teigen seems more like a POS than anything else.
And then that troll celeb's followers will start dog piling. One of the reasons I never used Twitter and barely use Facebook.
I've never been on twitter, instagram, etc, etc. I only have FB so I don't forget birthdays. except for my kids, I have everybody on stfu, but we're still friends. I told my own mother I wasn't interested in any of her f'n nazi/klan bullshit.
I have Facebook but dont really use it. I only have it to look at what people I personally know like friends or relatives are doing. I look at it for a couple minutes once or twice a week.
Twitter is a different story. It is probably the best way to find sources for news and opinion stories that there is. When there is a national breaking story there is nothing like twitter to let you see what all the fuss is about.
I am not on any of those things. NT is the only Internet entity I need.
Teigan and those like her feel that they have the right to sit in judgment of others, even to bullying those they see as being a lesser human being. While I do like her husband, I have never had any use for her. She thinks her sh*t don't stink and seems to think she is well above everyone else.
No matter how long her 'apology' might be, it is not enough to heal the mental and emotional damage she caused those she wrongly attacked, humiliated and denigrated.
I don't have the feeling that her apology was sincere, and only offered when the negative reaction hit the fan. She knows what she did was wrong and knew it from the start, but, that did not stop her from doing what she did, mentally and emotionally hurting those she felt were beneath her feet.
Hopefully, she won't repeat what she did, but, I would bet that she will when she thinks the world has forgotten about her actions this time.
"an insecure, attention seeking troll."
What about you Hal?
Me too, Lux ...
What about you Lux?
me too Hal ...
I think that defines about two thirds of the people on social media these days.
Isn't it illegal to tell someone on social media to go kill themselves? And isn't this what middle school Mean Girls do for kicks?
I didn't much care for her before and I'm really not impressed by her. Her apology sounds forced and faked because she's trying to save her career.
I don't even know who she is or what she's famous for.
Modeling and running her mouth
what? no sex tape?
I am like you - have no clue & really do not care to know.
There could be, probably is, I just haven't heard of it
Morning dev...I am with you no idea who in the heck she is... don't care but certainly sounds like she has a very nasty streak.
Surprised she did not trot out....she has mental issues...that is the flavour of the month here and covers everything these days...🙄🙄
Morning trout...modelling??? Of what??..fish bait?? Even a discerning trout would not look at it...
She is married to John Legend.
Mornin', Shona!
She is a walking talking can of Vegemite.
Totally agree.
If you want to play the social media game, then you get what you ask for. Social media is the worst form of expression. It never gets old when I read about so and so expressing themselves on social media, and then getting fired, arrested, ostracized, etc. Guess what? The whole fucking world does not need to know how fucked up your thinking is.
I pay about as little attention to such people as is humanly possible and still vaguely know who they are.
The vibe I have always gotten from the scarce times I have seen Chrissy Teigen is that she thinks she is hot shit.
I still don't get why that would be. First of all she is an average looking woman, second, she's not funny, and third I don't care about her efforts to be an "influencer".
Teigen is a piece of shit. Nothing more.