Chrissy Teigen claims those Michael Costello DMs are fake.
Last Monday (June 14), hours after Chrissy returned to Instagram to address her past “awful” tweets with a lengthy statement on Medium, designer Michael Costello went on Instagram to allege that Chrissy bullied him and the she and her stylist, Monica Rose, allegedly tried to ruin his career, sharing that he’s still “traumatized, depressed and has thoughts of suicide.”
He also shared screenshots of alleged online interactions with Chrissy over the years – including one where she allegedly called him “racist” and threatened his career.
On Friday (June 18), Chrissy addressed Michael’s bullying allegations on Twitter, writing, “No idea what the f–k michael costello is doing. He just released a statement where he didn’t at ALL acknowledge how fake the dm’s were, & now claims to have emails that don’t exist. So while he conjures those up (hopefully with someone more talented in fakes this time), here.”
She also shared her official statement on the matter: “Chrissy is completely surprised and disappointed by Michael Costello’s recent attack, which includes fictional ‘screenshots’ from 2014 of supposed private messages that Chrissy did not send. In October 2014, she did post a comment on Mr. Costello’s Instagram when he was publicly accused of making a racist remark. After he denied the accusation, and claimed it was based on a photoshopped comment, Chrissy deleted the comment, as was reported at the time.”
She went on to say she believed they’d had a “cordial relationship” over the years – and shared examples of their “friendly online interactions.” The statement also included details of how the supposed screenshots that the designer shared were allegedly “manipulated” – like technical inconsistencies related to the timelines of Chrissy’s Instagram profile pictures and various features on the photo app.
“Chrissy has acknowledged her past behavior and the pain she has caused, but she will not stand for anyone spreading false accusations to further demean her name and reputation,” the statement continued. “Chrissy will continue to do the work she needs to do to be the best person she can be. She hopes Michael Costello can do the same.”
Chrissy’s husband, John Legend, also went on Twitter to defend his wife. “Chrissy apologized for her public tweets, but after her apology, Mr Costello fabricated a DM exchange between them. This exchange was made up, completely fake, never happened. Receipts below,” he shared in a thread.
Michael has since responded to Chrissy’s statement, claiming, “I have receipts of emails and confirmations” from individuals and companies on how Chrissy has allegedly negatively impacted his career before announcing that he would be taking a social media break. “God bless. Also, I wish John & Chrissy nothing but peace and happiness after all this,” he added in the captions.
Over the past few weeks, Chrissy Teigen found herself in the midst of bullying allegations after some of her past tweets from 2011 resurfaced. She’s since taken a break from social media and also exited her guest role in the second season of Never Have I Ever.
It all started last month, when 26-year-old model Courtney Stodden alleged in The Daily Beast that Chrissy used to send her disparaging comments on social media. She’s since publicly apologized to Courtney on Twitter. She also addressed her past behavior on social media, with an essay published Monday (June 14) on Medium, where she admits that she’s “truly ashamed” of her “old awful (awful, awful) tweets.” She also notes that there’s “no excuse” for what she wrote.
She also says she’s “in the process of privately reaching out to the people I insulted.”
Chrissy also opened up about how her experiences in life have changed her and made her grow as a person – and that she’s no longer the same person who wrote those mean tweets.
“Life has made me more empathetic. I’m more understanding of what motivates trolling — the instant gratification that you get from lashing out and clapping back, throwing rocks at someone you think is invincible because they’re famous. Also, I know now how it feels to be on the receiving end of incredible vitriol,” she added. “Believe me, the irony of this is not lost on me.”
