Chrissy Teigen has gone from applauded casual shade thrower to being outright accused of cyberbullying, by several parties, faster than a New York minute. Most recently, Project Runway’s Michael Costello alleged that his encounters with her have been so traumatic as to make him feel suicidal. But Teigen’s rep countered that the receipts for Costello’s DMs were actually not real, implying that he was lying about being bullied by her. It’s been a back-and-forth ever since, so much so many fans' heads are still spinning, and now even Teigen’s husband, John Legend, is getting involved in the mess.
But, let’s rewind real quick. Around the same time as Chrissy Teigen’s blanket apology for bullying behaviors, Michael Costello wrote a lengthy Instagram post describing how a misunderstanding led her to threaten his fashion career and say he should die. The post garnered a polarizing response from other celebrities on Tuesday. Some offered Costello support, while singer Leona Lewis accused him of “the pot calling the kettle black,” and revealed her own experiences of feeling “humiliated” by Costello. It seemed as though bullying allegations were being unearthed left and right.
To complicate matters further, Chrissy Teigen’s team told Business Insider that Michael Costello’s DMs to support his claims of bullying were merely “manipulated imagery.” They claim the message color scheme and Teigen’s profile picture prove somehow that he faked the exchanges with Teigen. Today, John Legend is doubling down on these claims in defense of his wife. He wrote on Twitter that the exchange “never happened” and that Costello was aiming to “insert themselves in this narrative.” See his full Twitter thread here:
John Legend’s use of his public forum has since opened a lot of vitriol against Michael Costello and himself in the comments. Users were split between accusing Legend of lying for his wife and deflecting from the real issues, as well as labeling Costello of being an attention seeker.
However, Michael Costello quickly fired back his own response to John Legend. In a since-deleted tweet, Costello empathized with Legend’s need to defend his wife Chrissy Teigen but didn’t back down that she bullied him online. It was clearly a hasty response, which Michael Costello has since replaced with a more polished (and slightly shady) post, which says some of the same things. Check out his tweet below:
It’s a strange turn of multiple events, which have definitely snowballed. If even more celebrities weigh in on the situation, as the likes of Leona Lewis and John Legend have done, the controversy will probably only intensify. What’s certain, though, is we are now leagues away from Chrissy Teigen’s public apology post from Tuesday on the Medium platform. In it, Teigen wrote:
I’m telling you this for context, not seeking or deserving any sympathy. There’s no justification for my behavior. I’m not a victim here. The subjects of your sympathy — and mine — should be those I put down.
Chrissy Teigen has already stepped down from one Netflix role amidst the bullying allegations. As of now, it is unclear how the current circumstances will affect her potential return to her popular role on Lip Sync Battle, should it be renewed for Season 6.
