Cookbook author and former model Chrissy Teigen broke her silence on Monday, after being accused of bullying a then-teenager on Twitter in 2011.
In a Medium post, Teigen said she had been sitting in a hole of “deserved global punishment,” dealing with a “crushing weight of regret.”
“As you know, a bunch of my old awful (awful, awful) tweets resurfaced. I’m truly ashamed of them,” the 35-year-old said.
“As I look at them and understand the hurt they caused, I have to stop and wonder: ‘How could I have done that?’ “
In May, media personality Courtney Stodden — who uses they/them pronouns — called out Teigen for bullying them on Twitter a decade ago.
“[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 at the time.
Stodden, now 26, first entered the media spotlight after marrying 50-year-old actor Doug Hutchison when they were 16.
The couple divorced in 2020.
No excuse for ‘horrible tweets,’ says Teigen
In her apology, Teigen, who is married to R&B singer John Legend, wrote that she is in the process of privately reaching out to Stodden and others she treated similarly, but acknowledged there is no excuse for her “horrible tweets.”
“My targets didn’t deserve them. No one does. Many of them needed empathy, kindness, understanding and support, not my meanness masquerading as a kind of casual, edgy humour,” she wrote.
“I was a troll, full stop. And I am so sorry.”
Model, cookbook author and TV personality Chrissy Teigan sharing her emotional story of losing her third child with singer John Legend has sparked an outpouring of support for others who’ve had similar experiences and inspired others to share their stories of loss. 1:58
Teigen’s Twitter popularity has grown significantly over the last few years, as she shares her day-to-day life as a mother and cook, as well as her outspoken criticism of former U.S. president Donald Trump.
In March, she briefly deleted her Twitter account — it boasts more than 13 million followers — after she said it no longer served a positive role in her life.
She rejoined the social media platform three weeks later, saying it felt terrible “to silence yourself.”
turns out it feels TERRIBLE to silence yourself and also no longer enjoy belly chuckles randomly throughout the day and also lose like 2000 friends at once lol
In Monday’s Medium post, Teigen wrote that when she first joined social media, she would make jokes and observations, but also used the platform to “snark” at some celebrities.
“In reality, I was insecure, immature and in a world where I thought I needed to impress strangers to be accepted,” she said.
“I wasn’t just attacking some random avatar, but hurting young women — some who were still girls — who had feelings.”
‘I have never heard from her,’ Stodden says
When news about Teigen’s comments to Stodden first became public in May, the Cravings cookbook author said she apologized to them on Twitter.
“I have tried to connect with Courtney privately but since I publicly fuelled 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,” the tweet said.
Later, Stodden posted an image on Instagram alleging Teigen had blocked them.
“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.
“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 said.
Teigen’s Medium post went on to say she is not looking for sympathy, and noted there is no justification for her behaviour.
“I’m not a victim here. The subjects of your sympathy — and mine — should be those I put down. The truth is, I’m no longer the person who wrote those horrible things.”
